I Hate Everything About You
by The three quarter demon
Summary: "Stop calling me that!" he shouted at her "You took that name from me; just like you took my humanity." she knew it was true, she had done the worse thing possible to him.  Couldn't think of a better name; sorry if it seems to be a song-fic...
1. Chapter 1

I got tired of thinking about this and wanted to see what kind of response it would get.

xxxxxxx

A burning pain; that's all Tsukune could remember as he woke up to see an old style Japanese house in the distance. He felt grass on his face as he pushed himself up and took a better look around. Not much was around; just a rundown little town is all that seemed to be towards the house he saw. He braced himself to stand but felt his legs refuse to support him.

He couldn't react fast enough to catch himself and hit the grassy ground hard. This was concerning for him; did he have limited use of his legs, or was he just tired? He didn't know but he had to stand up and see if anyone knew him and would help fill in the numerous blanks in his mind. Barley willing himself to stand with the little strength he had, he managed to stay standing this time.

As he stood up he felt a breeze blow across his bare torso; he looked down to see an X scar across it. He gently touched the scar and felt the touch not only on his fingers but on the scar. Somehow, the scar tissue had become sensitive. It didn't seem right; scar tissue that was sensitive, it just felt… off.

'_How did I get this?'_ he thought as he walked towards the house.

He suddenly heard a long howl as he felt a pressure in the air push against him. It wasn't heavy, but it was noticeable, just enough so that it felt like he had a bag on his back. He looked back to see a rift opening up and three masked creatures charge out towards him. Fear filled his body as he started to run away from the creatures. These creatures that were clearly stronger than him and were going to kill him if he didn't leave now. For some reason this felt familiar to him; he wasn't sure how though. It was a serious case of déjàvo; he knew he had done this before, but he wasn't sure when or where.

His retreat took him into an alley where he continued to run to the other side. When he exited the alley he saw a small district of people that were looking at him as he ran and then saw what he was running from and joined him in his retreat.

'_**NOW,'**_ he heard a dark voice say to him _**'NOW OF ALL TIMES YOU CHOSE TO RUN. YOU FUCKIN' COWARD.'**_

The voice continued to insult him as he ran; names that sounded like they fit but weren't completely true. There was little he could do against these weird creatures that were trying to kill him. So why would he fight them and risk getting killed?

'_Stand firm'_ a softer feminine voice said to him _'just like you've always done. Stand and protect those around you; even if you do not know them. Turn around and fight. Your resolve is stronger than this.'_

Tsukune listened to the voice and skid to a halt before turning to face the creatures that had chased him. His body started to move by instinct as he took a firm stance and waited for the creatures to get closer. This voice made a point; there were people that needed to be protected. While he might not have the strength to actually defeat them, he could stall them long enough for everyone to get to safety.

Not too far away, two figures watched the boy run from the hollows. It was normal after all in the Soul Society for people to run from them if they showed up. The look of fear that everyone was showing was at what it should be; hollows do eat any soul regardless of what it is. It was no secret that Yokai were amongst everyone in the soul society; many just stuck to the Eastern Rukongai districts.

"Ken-chan" a pink haired girl cheered "looks like he's gonna fight."

This was different than the norm in the Soul Society. A person that looked to have no spiritual powers standing against a hollow. This was suicide by any standards; even Eleventh Division's. Hand-to-hand combat was Second Division's thing; so if he survived he'd most likely go there.

"Let's see what he's got" a spiky haired man said with a smile.

It was rare for someone to even try to do anything but run from Hollows. They are creatures that only act on the primitive need to feed, and survive; nothing else. No one wanted to be eaten by a Hollow; because that could possibly cause themselves to become Hollows. It was a fate that was worse than death.

"Our orders are to eliminate the Hollows" a woman said as she appeared next to Kenpachi "Zaraki-taichou."

"Soifon-taichou" he laughed as he watched the brown haired boy land a solid kick on one of the Hollows and sent it soaring back to the other two "looks like he fights with his hands a lot."

Soifon watched the boy as he barely dodged a set of attacks from the masked creatures. She wasn't at all impressed with his abilities, they were mediocre at best. He looked like a bar room brawler rather than an actual fighter. The boy landed an uppercut and sent one Hollow soaring up into the air for about ten feet. The boy had brute strength, she'd give him that, but lacked everything else. One of the Hollows smashed him with its tail and knocked him back onto the ground. He stood up and continued to fight, despite his deep wounds and losing a lot of blood.

"The Baka's gonna get himself killed" Soifon said as she drew her zanpakuto and vanished.

Tsukune landed a round house kick on one of the hollows and knocked it into a building. He was getting nowhere. _'How do I beat these things?'_ he asked as he watched the creature get back up. He suddenly felt a greater pressure than before, this one felt like it was forcing him to the ground as a new figure appeared. She wasn't that tall, had two braids of hair wrapped in lacing that held a sheath and wore a jacket that had two horizontal lines in the center of a diamond. He didn't see much of anything else before he blacked out.

"Wake up Chocolate-hair" he heard a voice say to him.

He felt a weight on his chest that seemed to be the source of the voice speaking to him. It wasn't heavy but it was enough to get his attention.

"Wake up" as he felt a smack on his face.

Tsukune opened his eyes to see a small pink haired girl standing on his chest and looking down at him. The hair color looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember from where. Having so many blanks in his mind was starting to worry him.

"Where am I?" as he looked around and saw what resembled a hospital room.

"Fourth Division's Clinic" a deep male voice said to him "what's your name boy?"

Tsukune looked at the source of the voice and started to shake from fear. The voice came from a large man dressed in a black kimono and had a torn up white jacket over top of it; he also had black spiked hair and an eye patch covering his right eye.

"Aono… Tsukune…" he said in a very weak voice.

The man didn't look like he appreciated the weak tone that Tsukune answered with. If anything, he looked like he was irritated with it.

"When you speak" he said in a more aggressive tone than he first did "speak without fear" as his eye seemed to narrow "I don't wanna regret my decision by havin' ya so much as sound weak."

"Hai" Tsukune said without hesitation.

"Better; my name is Zaraki Kenpachi. I took the liberty of signing ya up for the Shinigami Academy" Kenpachi said as he stood up and walked over to Tsukune "you start in a week. Don't disappoint me" as he walked out.

The girl jumped off Tsukune's chest and landed on Kenpachi's back, but he didn't feel like someone had just jumped off his chest. He felt like nothing had happened.

"Ken-chan's not always this mean" she giggled as Tsukune sat up "he just doesn't think much of weak people."

Again, that sounded familiar; and he couldn't put his finger on it. It was something from in his past, it was on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn't say where it was familiar from. His line of thought was interrupted though.

"Eleventh Division" Kenpachi said to Tsukune before he left the room "come by as soon as you're released from here" as he slid the door open and walked out "tell them I sent ya."

Tsukune didn't have time to reply before a nurse walked in to check on him. She had white hair with two braids that merged into one at the lobe of her ear and had red earrings. She was also surprisingly tall.

"How are you feeling?" as she looked at him before reaching for a clipboard.

"Confused" as he looked out the window and saw a large courtyard with other patients walking around "I can't remember anything before those creatures attacked me. Where is here?" looking back at the nurse.

"This is the Seireitei which is in the Soul Society" she started "where the souls of the dead pass to."

Those words hit Tsukune hard. How was he dead; he was breathing and just had a conversation with two people. He felt pain, the wind, even the dirt he fell on when he blacked out after the one person showed up in between him and one of the masked creatures.

"I'm…" in disbelief "dead…?"

"Yes," in a sympathetic tone "the loss of memories normally takes about a century; I'm not sure why you lost yours so soon. Maybe something happened when you died that caused you to lose them."

"All I remember is a burning pain" as he felt an odd urge to look at his right hand.

His eyes widened when he saw what looked like a cross burned onto the skin of his palm. The only thing that was unique about the burn mark was a small area that wasn't burned that was where the cross joints were. It was like something was on whatever he grabbed that wasn't hot at all. What could have caused that; he didn't grab anything that remotely looked like a cross when he was fighting those creatures. And he surely would've remembered grabbing something that would've been hot enough to burn him.

The nurse could see that her patient was lost in thought, but she didn't think anything of it. After all, it wasn't easy to grasp the fact that you're dead. She remembered how she felt when she found out; not at all a feeling she wanted to relive.

"I need your name" she spoke up to get his attention off the burn mark.

"Aono" he said back to her letting his gaze drop from his hand to the sheets that covered him "Tsukune."

"I'm Kotetsu Isane" as she looked at Tsukune's hand "would you like me to heal this for you?"

Tsukune thought about it for a second; it didn't keep him from using his hand and it really didn't hurt much and it was the only thing that could help him remember his past. A past that could hold a future.

"No thank you" as he closed his hand "when can I leave?" with a slightly sad tone. If he had just died then no one here would know him; all the blanks in his memories would never be filled in.

"You should be cleared by this afternoon after Unohana-taichou gives you a more thorough exam" as she put the clipboard back where she got it from.

"Thank you Isane-san" as he stood up to stretch a little.

His stomach growled loudly as his legs nearly gave out from under him; if it weren't for Isane he would've fell to the ground. He couldn't remember the last time he had something to eat, but it felt like it had been weeks; he'd swear he could eat a cow. He had no clue as to why he felt like this.

"I'll find you some crutches to use" Isane said as she helped him back to the bed "then we'll head to the cafeteria" as she walked out of the room.

"Those creatures that attacked you are called Hollows" he heard from the window and fell to the floor from shock "they must have followed you here after you died. With how loud your stomach growled" as Tsukune looked at the source of the voice and saw a woman sitting in the window seal "you have a strong spiritual awareness. That would explain why the Hollows were after you."

Tsukune looked at the woman; it was the one that appeared in front of him before he blacked out. Her hair was black; eyes were a light brown and seemed serious. The way she spoke sounded familiar to him, but again he had no clue as to where.

"Hollows?" Tsukune asked with a confused tone.

"Souls that were once a living being but they couldn't pass over" as her gaze locked in on Tsukune "eventually they become empty; a hole forms in their chests and then that mask forms on their faces. They eat the souls of anyone and anything in an attempt to fill that emptiness. They can only be purified with a zanpakuto;" they heard the door slide open again "how you managed to fight, not one but, three off with your bare hands is a huge feat and a complete mystery."

"Thank you…" in a confused tone "I guess."

"You're nothing more than a bar room brawler" she said in a serious tone as her eyes narrowed "you belong in the Eleventh Division, no question about it."

Tsukune didn't feel at all offended by her statement; it felt like it sounded right. If it weren't for the voices he heard in his head he would've kept running. How he knew how to fight like that though was a mystery, but he acted mostly on instinct.

"However" the woman continued "I do see potential in you. If you want" in a more gentle tone than before "I can show you how to properly fight with your bare hands."

"I don't know" Tsukune said "fighting just to fight doesn't sound right. I only fought those things to keep the people around me safe."

"Soifon-taichou" Isane said as she finally walked back into the room "you're Aono-san's second visitor. I guess he's pretty popular already."

"Taichou?" Tsukune said in surprise.

"Of the Second Division" Soifon added "and Commander of the Onmitsukido, and Corp Commander of the Executive Militia. Now that you know" as she stood up and faced outside "you will address me as Soifon-taichou."

"Hai" Tsukune said quickly before she disappeared.

Isane handed him the crouches and helped him to the cafeteria. It was a long walk for Tsukune; especially since he was running on an empty stomach. His stomach growled several times on the way there; even worse when he finally smelled the food.

Fifty minutes later Isane was jaw dropped; she had never seen someone eat ten full plates of cafeteria food. Each one had a good sized steak on it, rice, vegetables and even a dessert. This was something only Soifon's fuku-taichou was thought to be capable of.

"Are you full now?" she asked her patient as he finished his drink.

"Hai, sorry I took so long" as he looked at the plates that were stacked up "I don't know when the last time I ate."

"Oh-my" a gentle voice said with a giggle "I've never seen someone eat quiet so much before."

Tsukune looked back towards the source of the voice and saw a woman with a gentle face and two braids that went on either side of her face and became one at her breasts. She wore a black kimono with a white cloak over it; she was a Taichou, no question about it.

"You must be the boy that Kenpachi-taichou brought in" she continued in her soft voice "I must be honest though; you don't look like a fighter."

"Hai," Tsukune said politely as he rubbed the back of his head "I seem to be getting that a lot; Taichou."

"Please" she said with a gentle smile "no need to be so formal with me. Just Unohana will do."

Tsukune was beginning to like the taichou already; she didn't care about being formal. Plus she spoke with a gentle tone that made him feel comfortable.

"Hai" he replied back "Zaraki-taichou told me to go by the Eleventh Division once I got out of here. Can I get my exam so I can go, please?"

"Of course" as she began to walk away.

Tsukune grabbed his crouches and stood up; to his surprise he felt like he didn't need them. His legs felt fine now, completely refreshed and capable of walking on their own. So he handed Isane the crouches and followed Unohana; the last thing he wanted to do was make a taichou wait, even though this one didn't seem like she'd mind too much.

Unohana was surprised to see that the patient had handed off his crouches and was walking on his own already. It was unusual for someone to recover so quickly from the journey to the Soul Society; not to mention fight three hollows on his own. She was expecting him to take at least three days to recover fully; yet he was walking around like nothing happened. He was definitely someone she'd have to keep an eye on.

-Deep within Tsukune's mindscape-

"**Fuck off bitch"** a figure said as a woman tried to lecture him **"he might not remember but I do. Once he's out of here, I'm gonna show that prideful whore what true power is."**

The woman let out a sigh as she shook her head. Her long pink hair swayed into her face, so she gently moved it aside. It wasn't a complete mystery as to why the one in front of her was so angry; while Tsukune lost his memories, the boy in front of her did not. He remembered how she treated him; by comparison of how the others treated him, she treated him like he was nothing but dirt.

"Nothing good comes from violence" she said softly "look at what happened to you."

"**SHUT THE FUCK UP"** he shouted at her.

It wasn't his fault that Tsukune was dead; the idiot was responsible for their shared fate. If he had it his way, he wouldn't have cared about what would've happened. He wouldn't have tried to stop it at all; he simply would've let it happen.

"**That bitch put me through hell, and I bet she doesn't even care that we're dead now"** with venom in his voice.

The woman looked at the boy; pale skin, with white hair and a tattoo stretching across his neck and face. She knew all too well how the boy came to be; after all, it was the source of his anger.

"Just remember" as she turned around and looked at a massive school "that _if_ you ever do gain control" looking at him out of the corner of her green eyes "I will not permit you to use me in any way but to protect someone. I am not a mere weapon of war."

"**Fuck off"** he said back to her as he sat on a massive tree's branch **"I **_**will**_** have my revenge against her; with or without your help. If it weren't for her; we'd still be alive."**

"You know that is not the truth" the woman said back as she looked him in his yellow rage-filled eyes "there were reasons other than her that you stayed at Yokai Academy. She is not responsible for your death, none of them are;" as she rubbed his cheek "I only hope that you wake up to this truth before you do something that both of you will regret."

His eyes didn't change; he still held rage against her, but mostly her. He had done everything he could to get her approval; but she kept denying him. Nothing was ever good enough for her; the numerous times he'd saved her wasn't even enough for her to give him the time of day, let alone positive attention. If he ever saw her again, he'd be sure to show her just how powerful he truly is; nothing was going to hold him back any more.

"For his sake" she asked seeing that the boy's mind was made up "do not harm her. I am sure they will meet again soon, but you cannot do anything to interrupt a natural process. Once he has his memories back, and _if_ he feels the same way, then you can go on your little tantrum. Until then though" as she stood up tall "if you try to force _your_ memories into him; I will _not_ hesitate to destroy you."

She then walked towards the school; with grace that matched _hers_. It sickened him to have to be stuck with this woman; she even looked like _her_. If that wasn't bad enough though, he knew she was far more powerful than _her._ The only thing he liked about this woman was the fact that she didn't flaunt her power.

"**He and I are one in the same"** the boy said **"if you destroy me; you'll destroy a piece of him"** with a smug smile **"could you truly do that?"**

The woman stopped in her tracks. What the boy was saying was true, but she knew it was something that would have to be done if she must.

"Yes" she stated calmly "I could. If it meant protecting him and the ones he holds precious to him; I would do it without second thought. You have tried to harm them once before, but was stopped and then suppressed. Please do not think I would not destroy you to protect him" as she started walking again "and please do not pretend you know me. You know nothing about me; but I know everything about you."

-Tsukune-

He walked through the large court yard of the Clinic and was on his way to the Eleventh Division. Unohana had given him a set of clean clothes to wear since what he had consisted of only a worn out pair of jeans. Now he was wearing a black pair of kimono bottoms and a white undergarment that he had seen many of the people in the clinic wearing underneath their black kimono tops. The clothes fit him just right too. They hugged his shoulders enough to stay in place but not so much that it restricted his movement, and his pants fit snug around his waist.

It took him some time to figure out how to put on the sandals that the taichou had given him. He managed to figure it out though; with Isane's assistance. They felt more open than what he was used too; which was weird because he didn't have anything on his feet when he woke up.

"Uh…Which way do I go?" he asked himself as he looked around, realizing that he didn't have directions.

He rubbed the back of his head in personal embarrassment for not asking for directions before he left. He was sure he was going to get lost if just kept going without someone to tell him which way he needed to go.

"Where are you looking for?" he heard behind him.

He looked back and didn't see anyone.

"First the voices when I was being chased by those 'hollow' things" he said as he looked around "and now when I'm trying to go to Eleventh Division. I must be going crazy."

"Down here boy" he heard near his feet.

He looked down to see a black cat staring at him.

"Di…did that cat just…" he began to ask himself.

"Yes" it answered "I did."

Tsukune just stared at the cat in disbelief. A _cat_ had just spoken to him like it was human; A CAT. Since when did cats talk? Surprisingly though, it didn't come as much of a shock as he had thought.

"Follow me if you want to get to the Eleventh Division" it said as it walked in front of him to lead him to where he wanted to go.

Tsukune was hesitant to follow a cat; which was understandable given his position. Why would any sane person believe a cat could talk, let alone lead him to somewhere that he wanted to go?

"Kenpachi isn't known for his patience" the cat said to him "if I recall correctly; he nearly killed the last person that kept him waiting."

Tsukune quickly moved to follow the cat. As he followed the cat he noticed that he was walking past several others that were dressed in a uniform that matched what most of those in Fourth Division were wearing. The numbers of those people increased when they passed a gate with the symbol for the number five written in a diamond.

"What's your name?" the cat asked him as they walked pass a gate that had a character for the number six on it.

"Aono Tsukune" he said quickly.

"I'm Yoruichi" the cat said as it took a turn.

Tsukune followed Yoruichi around the corner and bumped into a blond woman. Before he could apologize for bumping into her; he got distracted by the size of her breasts, which were nearly exposed. The woman didn't seem to at all mind, and also seemed to be a little drunk.

"And who might you be, cutie?" she asked with a child-like tone as she wrapped her arms around him and trapped him in her cleavage.

"_**You lucky son of a bitch"**_ he heard in his head _**"what I wouldn't do to trade places with you."**_

His hand twitched as he slowly lost the ability to breathe. A mental picture of the exact same thing happening came to his mind; only it was different. He was wearing a green jacket, slacks, a backpack, and the one holding him in her cleavage had blue hair with matching eyes. She was wearing a yellow sweater vest and a mini-skirt, with a long sleeve white shirt underneath the sweater. He couldn't hear words, even though she seemed to be saying something, and she looked familiar to him. She was sticking her tongue out at someone; as if she were making a point about something.

"You're suffocating him Matsumoto-fuku-taichou" Yoruichi said as Tsukune's hand stopped twitching.

-Tsukune's Mind-

His eyes opened and he could see what looked to be an old abandoned mansion. It looked familiar to him; he couldn't say where though, maybe a movie he had watched when he was alive. The Gothic style roofing, large open court yard, and an eerie feel to the air; all very familiar, almost homey.

"**Was wonderin' when you'd show up"** he heard behind him.

The dark tone suggested that it didn't come from a friendly source. It also seemed to have a bit of a howl to it; faint, but somewhat noticeable.

"Who are you?" Tsukune asked as he turned around to see a boy standing on a branch that belonged to a tree that looked like it had a monstrous face on it.

The boy looked familiar to him, but he looked completely different. The white hair, extremely pale skin, yellow eyes that were set in black, and that tattoo that stretched across his neck and face; it was… disturbing.

"**Tsk"** the boy said to him **"still don't fuckin' remember. Should've known. Look around ya"** as he turned around and held his arms out **"take a good fuckin' look. This is similar to the place where that bitch changed us forever"** his arms drooped down to his side **"this is where everything about our humanity was taken from us."**

"You're the one that was calling me a coward" Tsukune said recognizing the voice now.

A smile grew across the boy's face.

"**How much do you remember"** he asked Tsukune as he turned around and faced him **"how much of the battles that cha fought in can you remember? Which of those girls do ya remember the best? Which one cost us our lives?"** as he looked down at the branch he was standing on.

"What are you talking about?" Tsukune asked "what battles? The only fight I've been in is with those Hollow things when I first woke up here. Wait," catching up to the line of questions "_girls_? How many?"

"**Shoulda figured"** the boy sighed **"you used so much damn youki that your memories are gone. Shoulda just let it happen; you stupid fuck"** as he crossed his arms like he was irritated.

Youki; that was a new term to him, but it did sound a little familiar.

"**Get the fuck outa here before I decide to take over"** as he waved his hand and dismissed Tsukune.

Tsukune suddenly vanished from the mindscape. Why he let the idiot leave was simple; he had his own agenda. If he were to take over now, it'd be pointless; he wouldn't have his revenge.

"**That subtle enough for ya?"** he asked as he looked at the base of the tree.

"Yes" a woman said to him "and thank you for not telling him exactly how he died" as she stepped out from behind the tree and looked at the boy.

The boy let out a 'tsk' and jumped down from the tree and walked away. He didn't want to spend any time anywhere near the woman he had to share space with. Even in death, is seems that he can't get away from _her_.

-Eleventh Division-

Kenpachi sat in the main training room of his division and looked at the two in front of him; a woman with long green hair, and a man with messily spiked blue hair. One of the two had been a former enemy of the shinigami; Jagerjaquez Grimmjow. He had served under the traitor Aizen as the Sexta Espada, fought against Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo three times, and was currently working alongside, much to his displeasure, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. She is the former Teresa Espada who was once trapped in a child form due to a fight with the deceased Quinto Espada. It is thanks to Inoue Orihime, both of them survived the final fights in Las Noches; Nel by choice, Grimmjow by Ichigo's request.

"I don't see why we need to do something this stupid" Grimmjow complained "'build a relationship with shinigami'. Tsk, waste of time."

This was the last thing the panther Arrancar wanted to do; work alongside a shinigami.

"Grimmjow" Nel said calmly "I have explained this before; shinigami and Arrancar can work together. It was also a shinigami's choice to have you healed."

"Can we get ta business" Kenpachi sighed "I'm expectin' someone soon and don't wanna have to deal with this as he's walkin' in."

"Hai" Nel said politely "I was told by sou-taichou Yamamoto-sama that your Division is very…" trying to think of a polite way to put it "battle driven…"

Kenpachi nodded; it was in no way a secret that the Eleventh Division was full of combat loving individuals. In his mind, Nel wasted her time by thinking of a way to sugar coat the truth.

"Grimmjow-san would fit in perfectly here" she continued "he has shown he loves combat, and has even gone against Ichigo three times; two of which he was much stronger than Ichigo."

"Would've been all three if Nnoitra-teme wouldn't have interfered" Grimmjow spat.

"Does kitty-cat not like it when someone interrupts his fight" Yachiru asked with a giggle.

A tick mark appeared on Grimmjow's forehead when he heard the nickname that the pink haired lieutenant had given him. He was no 'kitty', as the girl had called him. He is an Arrancar; a Hollow that surpassed all others by evolving into a human form and even gaining powers similar to those of a shinigami.

"She's only a child Grimmjow" Nel reminded him before he could snap back.

"Kenpachi-taichou" they heard as the door slid open "sorry if he's late" a cat said as it walked in with Matsumoto followed carrying Tsukune over her shoulder "but Matsumoto decided it'd be fun to try to suffocate him."

"I said I was sorry" she pouted as she set Tsukune on the ground "I didn't think his head was low enough to be caught in my boobs."

Every guy in the room had the same thought running through their minds; _'lucky brat'_.

Grimmjow looked at the fuku-taichou; he had seen her before, but only while she was fighting someone else. While one part of his mind was on more… primitive thoughts; the other wondered how strong she would have to be to suffocate someone in her massive breasts.

'_They look more than large enough to feed a liter of kits, and if she suffocated someone in them they must be rather firm'_ he thought.

The boy began to open his eyes; he saw a ceiling over his head. The last thing he could remember before he blacked out was being forcibly held in a woman's boobs. However nice they might've felt, it still bothered him because of image it triggered in him. A girl with blue hair, while unusual he felt he knew her. A name was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say it; simply because he couldn't remember.

He looked around and saw the Eleventh Division taichou sitting on a bench that was behind two people. They weren't dressed like the others he had seen. The woman was dressed in a white outfit; the shirt hugged her torso rather well and loosened at the sleeves and even more so at her wrists. Her pants went all the way down past her ankles, hugging her thighs and calves snuggly. The man was dressed in a similarly white jacket that was unzipped, showing his entire chest… and a hole… His pants fit fine at the waist but loosened up a lot after that.

One with green hair and a weird looking helmet that was shaped like a ram's skull. Her eyes looked serious but gentle; like they showed a concern for others, but you wouldn't want to be in a fight with her. The crimson line that stretched from cheek to cheek looked like it would be a birth mark that resembled a blush.

The other one… there was something in his eyes that screamed endless fighting. Sharp light blue eyes that looked like they could kill just by looking at you. Messily spiked blue hair. Then there was that jaw looking thing on his cheek that looked like it was apart of his skin, but at the same time not.

"Good to see yer awake now" Kenpachi said "now we can begin yer trainin'" with a large smile.

…Shinigami Cup Golden…

A shinigami sat at his desk reading over last minute applications into the academy. In his opinion, if you waited till last minute you shouldn't be allowed in. He normally held true to this, rejecting any applications that didn't have a very good letter of recommendation; he only classified a letter of recommendation as good if it came from a taichou or fuku-taichou. He rarely saw those so he wasn't too worried about having any in this stack.

"Ugh" he groaned "I hate this part of the job" as he pulled out another application and started to review it. "Aono Tsukune" he read "rather boring name if you ask me" as he continued to read the application "he has a letter of recommendation though" as he lifted the first sheet and started to read the letter.

Sweat rolled down his face as he read it; it was from non-other than Kenpachi Zaraki, the Eleventh Division taichou. His entire body began to shake in fear as he didn't even want to think of reaching for the rejected stamp. The fear of what could happen was too great. He reread the letter:

_To whom it may concern,_

_If this boy isn't let into the academy,  
I'll kill ya_

_Zaraki Kenpachi_

His eyes looked over at the two stamps he had setting near him; one saying accepted, the other saying rejected. Cautiously he moved his hand to the stamps; being careful not to grab the rejected one by force of habit. He grabbed one of the two stamps and looked at the underside just to make sure he was grabbing the right one.

He pressed the stamp firmly in the ink pad and was careful about pressing it on the application. The last thing he wanted to do was smudge the symbol so that it didn't look right. He did like his job and being alive, so to speak.

"Maybe I should put one more on… just to be safe" as he gently pushed the stamp firmly on the paper.

-Eleventh Division-

"Ken-chan" Yachiru cheered as she jumped onto his shoulder with a paper in hand "looks like chocolate-hair got in" showing him the application.

Said application had numerous stamps saying accepted; ten in total.

"I think he over did it" Kenpachi sighed as he continued to walk to his bed to lie down.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsukune stood in a dojo, surrounded by several members of the Eleventh Division; as well as Grimmjow and Nel. The Taichou wanted to see how the boy's swordsmanship was. He had already told several about how the boy that they were watching fought three Hollows with his bare hands; now just about everyone wanted a piece of him. By Kenpachi's standards that was fine; it was how one gets respect in this division, fight others and prove your strength.

Tsukune looked around the room; any one of them could be his opponent. They all looked like they wanted to seriously injure him, possibly kill him; for some reason it didn't faze him at all. He took on three 'Hollows', so one person shouldn't be too much trouble; right? While he had no idea if he could use a sword properly, he at least had one. The way Zaraki-Taichou, as he calls Kenpachi, described it was that it was a generic zanpakuto that is used in the Shinigami Academy. The blue wrapping on the hilt felt weird against the burn mark on his palm; there was a slight sting from it, but he over looked it.

"Ikkaku" Kenpachi said in a calm tone "see what he's got."

"I'm lu-lu-lu" Tsukune heard as he saw a bald man looking like he was stretching his leg while standing on his tip toes "lu-lu-lu" stretching the other leg in the opposite direction "I'M" as the guy slammed the bottom of his scabbard on the ground and did a hand stand on the hilt and flip over the group in front of him "LUCKY!" as he landed on his feet and held his zanpakuto out in front of him in both hands; some light reflected off his chrome dome.

"What the fuck was that?" Grimmjow asked as his eye twitched from the sight.

The next thing he knew was a pain on the back of his head before his face slammed into the ground. Nel stood there with her hand where her ally's head once was. While she found the awkward dance unusual, she kept quiet about it; unlike Grimmjow.

"Be more respectful Grimmjow" she said as Ikkaku looked at the panther.

"What'd you think of it?" the third seat asked Tsukune.

Tsukune looked at him; the man looked like he wanted an answer to help boost his self esteem… more like wanted him to say he liked it or else. With Ikkaku's thumb slowly lifting the zanpakuto from its scabbard and showing the blade, that point was quickly seen.

"It was, um…" he hesitated "different…"

Ikkaku smiled a little; if there was one way to get on the bald man's good side it would be to not say anything against his 'Lucky Dance', or his bald head. He took pride in it just as he took pride in every fight he's been in while under Kenpachi.

"Put your scabbard in your sash" he ordered "unless you fight like I do" as he drew his zanpakuto and showed Tsukune how he welds his zanpakuto.

Tsukune looked up at Ikkaku and saw how he was holding his zanpakuto; blade in one hand and scabbard in the other. While it looked cool, it really didn't seem like he'd like fighting like that. He slid his generic zanpakuto into his sash and drew the blade; holding it in one hand first to see if it felt right. Oddly enough it did; at first he didn't think he'd like holding a sword, but it felt like it belonged.

"Loser buys the sake" the third seat said as he took an offensive stance.

Tsukune was confused. He didn't recall ever drinking sake; or if he had money to buy the item in question.

"I don't think I have any money" the chocolate haired boy said.

Ikkaku face planted into the ground. If the boy had no money, and Kenpachi wanted the boy here, there was only one option…

"Fine" as he took his stance again "I'll buy it, but you better earn it" as he jumped at Tsukune.

Tsukune barely managed to block the incoming blade with his own. The force pushed him back a little before he dug his feet into the ground. His own blade began to get pushed back towards him; he wasn't strong enough to hold back his opponent. It didn't feel too different; besides, he had very little knowledge about what he was doing in the fight. However, he did know that he was going to have to use both hands if he was going to last even a minute against this bald man.

Before he could grab the hilt of his sword, Ikkaku used his scabbard to smash Tsukune in his side and knock him to the ground. Just because the boy was new didn't mean he was going to take it easy on him. After all, he heard from Kenpachi what the boy had managed to do with just his hands. Fighting off three Hollows was not very impressive, but considering the fact that the boy didn't have a zanpakuto; that made it very impressive. He wasn't going to let his guard down for this boy no matter what; or so he thought.

A Hell Butterfly flew in the room through the window and hovered next to Kenpachi. The Butterfly had an important message;

"Looks like we gotta put this on hold" he sighed "Hollows are in the Seireitei's eastern districts. Let's move" as he walked out of the dojo.

Ikkaku hung his head; he was hoping to be able to get a good fight in, but a group of Hollows showed up. Yes he was still recovering from the Winter War, but still… fighting was in his blood; there was no denying it.

"Maybe we can continue later?" Tsukune asked the third seat as he got up.

While he wasn't sure that fighting just to fight was good; he still wanted to learn how to use a sword. If he was going to go to an Academy where he was going to have to learn anyway, why not get some basics down? Plus this Division was full of people that looked more than willing to fight/teach him. And Soifon-taichou said that she thought he belonged here anyway…

A smile grew across Ikkaku's face; this boy was definitely interesting to him. He looked gentle on the surface, but was willing to fight; he liked him already.

"Let's not let Kenpachi take all the fun" as he sheathed his blade and ran to catch up with his taichou.

Tsukune stayed right on the man's heels. Grimmjow and Nel also followed; if Hollows were here, then the civil war that was bound to break out had already done so. Nel needed to find out what she could and try to help the shinigami here. Hopefully though, she'd be able to get some to go with her back to Hueco Mundo to try to put an end to it as quickly as possible.

-Eastern District-

A small squad was already there trying to fight off the Hollows. So far they had already defeated four of the two dozen that appeared while on patrol. It was rare for Hollows to attack the Soul Society directly; even rarer for them to attack the Seireitei. Some of them were unusually strong, but with everything that's happened in the past few months, no one was truly at a hundred percent. They had sent for back up from Eleventh Division and knew that it would come; after all, the Division was full of thugs that loved to fight.

Currently, they were fighting off the remaining Hollow that were trying to surround them. Luckily they were fast enough to keep moving and kill a few Hollows before they managed to surround them. Something just wasn't adding up; they were _organized_, too organized. There had to be an intelligent Hollow amongst them, or worse; an Adjuchas class Menos. If that were the case; they'd surely die today.

Suddenly several Hollows started to vaporize. That was the trademark of a Hollow being slain by a zanpakuto. Their backup had arrived.

"Ya guys are pathetic" they heard Kenpachi say as he brought his zanpakuto down through three Hollows at once "Aono" looking back at the boy "aim for their masks when ya strike them. Otherwise it's a waste."

Tsukune did as instructed by the taichou. He charged at a Hollow while he drew his generic zanpakuto; unsure if he could actually do it, but he had to try. The Hollow swung at him with a massive ape-like arm. Tsukune ducked beneath it and slashed upwards with his blade into the masked creature. The creature let out a loud howl of pain as it vaporized.

His eyes went wide; he had no clue how he just did that. It felt like it was second nature; but why? Before his thoughts could continue, he heard a Hollow vaporize behind him; Grimmjow standing where it once was. The Arrancar had just saved him.

"Thanks" Tsukune said to the advanced Hollow.

"Whatever" Grimmjow said as he backhanded another lesser Hollow and sent it flying.

Tsukune saw the small squad of shinigami that requested backup get surrounded and were having issues. He tightened his grip on the hilt and ran over to the Hollows; he didn't know how to fight properly, but he was still able to do something. Even if it was just wound the masked creatures so the squad could free themselves, it was better than just standing idly by.

One of the Hollows knocked out one of the squad members and was going in for the kill. It lifted its massive clawed arm and began to bring it down on top of the shinigami. Suddenly, he heard a static-like boom as its claw slammed into something and stopped. At first it was expecting one of the Arrancar, but was surprised to see brown hair from between its fingers.

"He's down" Tsukune said "he can't defend himself. Now leave him alone" as he began to push back the massive claw.

Nel and Grimmjow had a surprised look on their faces. The boy had just used sonido; an Arrancar ability equal to a shinigami's Shunpo. A boy with no training of any sort had just used what took some Arrancar at least a year to learn and another to master.

"**Just who the fuck are you"** the Hollow questioned him as he pulled his claw back.

This Hollow was intelligent and strong willed. Being able to speak was the signs of such intellect and will power. Its mask had what looked like a horn growing from the right side of its face with a smaller outgrowth coming from that. On the left side it had a smaller horn. Along its jaws it had an outgrowth protruding far on the right side, not very far on the left. The creature looked familiar to him, but he didn't know how.

"Aono Tsukune" he replied to the masked creature.

The Hollow seemed to growl at Tsukune's name. Rage boiled over in its blackened blood. Even in death there was no escaping the 'pure bred'.

The Hollow used its massive claw like arm to smash Tsukune in the ribs and knock him back a few meters. Before anyone could move to help him, Kenpachi ordered them to let Tsukune fight this himself. Grimmjow and Ikkaku merely sheathed their blades and watched as the boy got back up; Nel had one hand on her blade ready to strike if she had to.

Tsukune grabbed his blade with both hands and stood firm. He was all that was standing between this masked creature and the unconscious shinigami behind him. While he didn't know him, he knew he had to protect him; no matter what.

'_My name is B…'_ he heard the feminine voice say again.

He couldn't hear her name, but she was trying to tell it to him. He didn't have time to think about it before the Hollow took another swing at him. Luckily he blocked the massive arm; barely but still blocked it. The amount of force that was behind the attack pushed Tsukune back a couple meters before he managed to get good footing and stop skidding.

Fear was beginning to pump through his body, along with adrenaline, as the Hollow used one of its talon-like fingers to shatter the generic zanpakuto he was wielding. This didn't surprise Kenpachi too much; the generic blades had no spiritual integrity and could easily be shattered by just about anyone. Normally such blades weren't used in an actual fight against a real Hollow for just this reason; if they did that then not many would survive the academy.

"**DIE AONO"** the Hollow roared as it used its free arm to smash Tsukune to the ground.

'_**Let me take this weakling'**_ he heard in his mind _**'*I've* beaten him before without trouble.'**_

Tsukune fought back the slight pain at the base of his neck as he got back up and got ready for the next attack. The Hollow swung its massive arm backwards at Tsukune hoping to be able to kill him. However, Tsukune managed to duck under the arm and landed a solid upwards kick to the creature's chin and knocked it backwards a bit. To say Tsukune felt the recoil would be like saying Yachiru was childish. It felt like he nearly shattered his foot with the attack.

The Hollow charged at him; only this time used its smaller arm to attack first. While the boy saw this and dodged it; he wasn't paying enough attention and got cut in the side by the larger arm. Blood quickly poured from the wound and stained the white top he was wearing. He couldn't give up just because he had a wound; he had to beat this masked creature and protect the unconscious man behind him.

'_Why have you not called on me yet?'_ he heard as his vision shifted from reality to his the same setting he met the white skinned boy at.

Tsukune looked at the woman that was standing before him. She had long pink hair, large innocent looking emerald green eyes, slits for pupils, and she was wearing an expensive looking dark red dress. It was the woman he's been hearing.

"Who are you?" Tsukune asked gently as the woman walked towards him.

She looked at him and said something; but he couldn't hear what she said. Was his hearing bad now?

"I see;" she said as she stood in front of him and placed her hand on his shoulder "your resolve is not strong enough yet. But do not worry, eventually you shall hear my name" with a soft smile.

She knew he had the resolve to hear her; but he just didn't have it at the moment. But she had faith in him; after all, he has had the resolve before, he just couldn't remember it. If he was ever to be able to wield her true power, he would need to find that resolve; where he gets his true strength.

"In time you will find your true strength" as she placed her hand on the shattered blade in Tsukune's hand "but until that time" as the blade started to glow "train yourself to protect others."

Back in the real world, a strange reiatsu began to come from the brown haired boy as his broken blade glowed red. While Kenpachi and the members of his Division weren't affected by it, the Hollow sure was. It began to fall to the ground from the pressure; fighting to stay up and not looked fazed by such a flare of reiatsu. While he might not have been a Hollow long, he had come across some strange reiatsu before; but nothing like this. It felt gentle, but with the hint that it would kill if necessary… it was enough to bring fear into the other Hollows around him.

Nel's eyes widened a bit as she felt the reiatsu. It felt similar to Ichigo's when he was fighting to protect her while she was stuck in her child form. Given it was nowhere near as powerful as the substitute shinigami's, but the source of sure strength was unmistakable; the desire to protect someone. First it was the sonido, and now this reiatsu; _'Just what is this boy?'_ she asked herself.

Yachiru licked her lips from the feel of the reiatsu; it reminded her of some of the candy that Matsumoto brought back from the world of the living after one of her deployments. It was sour at first, but turned sweet as she chewed on it; only this reiatsu was the other way around. It felt sweet at first, but now had a sour feel to it. Just thinking about it made her want the candy again…

The Hollow that was fighting Tsukune decided to stop hesitating and attack the boy. He jumped up and brought his massive arm down on the unaware opponent. He wanted to end this now. However, before its arm made contact; the boy disappeared and he felt a slice going through his side. Its black blood gushed from the wound as it howled in pain from the injury.

Everyone saw an intact zanpakuto in Tsukune's hands. Mahogany colored hilt with matching scabbard resting in his sash. The blade was a slightly larger than usual katana, about thirty inches in length. The guard resembled a cross made of silver. The scabbard had a design that was made of several olive branches that went from end to end.

Tsukune turned around and faced the Hollow he had just sliced into. The creature's blood still dripped from his zanpakuto as he grabbed the hilt with both hands and went to attack again. The movements felt like they were instinctual rather than heat of the moment. As he readied his blade for the next attack, the Hollow used its massive arm to try to keep from getting wounded any further than it already was. The blade cut into the claw like arm but didn't go more than a quarter of the way in.

Everyone watched as the new boy lighted his grip on his blade and swung around and smashed his foot into the Hollow's face. A few were placing bets on how long till Tsukune defeated the Hollow; very few betted against the chocolate haired boy.

"**It seems **_**she**_** gave you more than her blood"** the Hollow spat as a small rift opened behind him and it jumped through it.

"Who are you…" he started but suddenly felt weak.

His legs wouldn't hold him up and he fell to the ground; the sharp pain at the base of his neck began to grow as he felt weaker and weaker. His breathing became heavy and more labored with each breath he took. What was wrong with him?

Nel appeared next to him with a single movement and caught him before he hit the ground. She picked him up and used sonido to get to the Fourth Division's clinic as fast as she could. Each step took an understandable amount out of her; she was after all still getting used to being in her adult form again. Even during her fight with Nnoitra she couldn't fight all out because she had gotten used to her child form; which didn't have all the abilities that her adult form did, therefore couldn't train to keep her skills up. If it weren't for Orihime using her Soten Kisshun to reverse the large crack that used to be in her mask, she'd still be in that form.

She thought about a few possibilities that would be causing the brown haired boy in her arms pain. It wasn't unusual for Hollow to secrete a toxin from their skin that could kill anyone that got it into an injury caused by the Hollow. After all, Grimmjow himself has something like that; the darts he fired from his elbows while in his resurrection form could demolish an enemy's body, but she wasn't sure if they had any toxins on them. Not that many hit by them would survive the hit and even if they did Grimmjow would end up being the victor of the fight.

When she finally appeared at the Clinic, many looked towards her with surprise; seeing how many of those in the courtyard she stopped in had never truly seen sonido before and were caught off guard by the static-like boom when she stopped. She ignored them though as she ran into the Clinic and got the medical shinigami to take him to Orihime, who was currently healing some of the patients that had been treated to enough to stop serious bleed so the more serious conditioned patients could be seen.

-Tsukune's mindscape-

The pale skinned boy bounced across the courtyard of the mansion and slammed into a wall; causing the wall to crash down around him. The hit that sent him flying was from the woman that he shares this mindscape with. How he managed to dodge every attack from her before that one was a matter of luck to him.

This fight broke out after he tried to take over Tsukune so he could show Kusabi Midou that even though he was dead, he was not someone to fuck with. So what if Tsukune felt a little pain in his neck as he tried to take over; what he was feeling is nothing but a pinch compared to what they've had to deal with before.

He pushed the rubble off him as he got up and got ready for another attack from his housemate. She was over reacting in his eyes; it's not like he was going to do anything but pound that pathetic Hollow into the dirt. Kusabi would've made a good temporary outlet for his anger; especially since the bastard remembered _her_ as well. It would've been fun making him relive their only fight while they were alive.

"I warned you about trying to force your memories onto Tsukune" the woman said as she got closer to him.

The woman didn't wait for a response from the boy as she grabbed him by his throat and drug the side of his face against the building. It felt like his face was being ground against sand paper as small pieces of his flesh was being left behind on the wall; as well as a dip from where his face had been dragged.

He knew what she was doing; she was showing him his place. _Just_ like _she_ would often do. He was but a quick meal to her, and _she_ often reminded him of that by biting his neck with no hesitation at all. It infuriated him that she would call herself his friend and then just keep using him like a walking fridge. He was going to make sure that he voiced this feeling the next time he sees her; _if_ he survives this brutal beating he was getting.

Even with as much damage that was being done, she was still holding back to keep from actually killing the boy. She knew that the only reason Tsukune didn't shatter his foot when he kicked Kusabi was because the boy she was handling like a rag doll had loaned him a bit of his power. While she was thankful for that, he still tried to force _his_ memories on Tsukune to influence her wielder to allow him control. Such actions would not go unpunished.

Yes, such violence was beneath her; but she wasn't going to harm him too much. She would prefer seeking a peaceful solution before letting herself look like a lowly thug. It is how she is, and it is how Tsukune is. While she might know more than Tsukune does in the realm of fighting and Hollows, Tsukune knows just as much as her when it comes to protecting someone. Which often calls for violence, but the level is often up to the one threatening others.

"**Ghaaa"** he cried out as she slammed him into the ground.

He gasped for air, which was ironic because technically he didn't need it, as she lightened her grip on his throat. There was no way she was going all out against him; he could feel her holding back. This only made him think she was a pacifist; only being as violent and aggressive as necessary.

"Now," she said which only caused him to feel a hint of fear "please do not try to tell him what _you_ remember or possess him without an extremely good reason. If he cannot defeat an enemy then you may influence his strength to a degree, but other than that; _Do. Not. Try. Anything._" as she walked off.

The boy struggled to get up; he knew he was missing a decent sized piece of his face and most likely would heal up in a week or so. The only thing he did was say that he was the one that beat Kusabi while they were alive and tried to take control so he could do it again. Seriously, it's not like he was trying to take control to go on a rampage… yet.

However, when he stopped to think about it, that blonde chick that nearly suffocated him did seem like she'd be fun in the sack; so he'd probably seek her out. Her rack did rival Kurumu's; maybe even surpassed it. He himself might never have been placed between the lovely mounds of flesh, but he knew that they were at least double D's.

Man did he miss being placed between them. Not only did the physical sensation feel great, but it weakened Tsukune's will enough for him to have some feeling and he was working on being able to take control when the succubus greeted him like that. Then this happened; he woke up seeing this Kami forsaken place, he had thought that he finally got control, but no. When he couldn't smell anyone else, he knew something was off; that's when he went exploring and found his housemate. At first he thought it was _her_ and attacked her; big mistake. She put him on the ground in one fluid movement and had that innocent look in her eyes; innocent but deadly.

"**Damn"** he groaned as he felt his face and saw the blood leak onto his hand **"that hurt."**

He wasn't wrong in how much of his face he was missing. There was a piece about the size of a quarter sticking to the wall the woman had dragged him through. While it wouldn't get infected, because in Tsukune's mindscape there are no bacteria, it was still going to hurt while it healed up. While he was upset that she overreacted like she did; she at least explain why she did it.

"Here" he heard behind him.

At first he jumped forward and took a defensive stance, but then saw what was in her hands. Some sort of plants…

"They're herbs that will help heal your wounds" she explained as she placed the herbs in his hand.

"**Why?"** he asked her **"why would you injure me and then offer to help heal me?"**

The woman looked into his eyes and knew that he didn't understand. He had been hurt badly by someone that he thought cared about him; who had hurt him and done nothing to make immense for it.

"Because of that reason" as she walked over to a chair and sat down "I showed you I was serious about what I said and now you understand that. Besides," as she watched the boy crush the herbs and apply the crushed leaves to the hole in his face "I understand I overreacted."

"**YOU THINK?"** he snapped as he put the rest of the leaves in his pocket.

-Tsukune-

He was rushed into the room where Orihime had just finished healing a shinigami that had been injured while on patrol. He claims to have been put on the same squad as someone who he didn't get along with at all. One said something and then things blew up and ended in both of them being injured by each other and were now under probationary status. The healer had talked with both of them and managed to get them to talk things out properly rather than having another fight.

"Inoue-san" one of the medics said as she wheeled in Tsukune on a bed "we have one more for you."

Orihime looked at the brown haired boy who didn't look any older than her. His breathing was heavy and shallow; there was blood on his shirt and a pained look on his face.

"Soten Kisshun, I reject" she said as Ayame and Shun'o flew over to opposite ends of the boy and made the trade mark half-dome.

Ever since she had been rescued from Aizen she has been in the Fourth Division's Clinic helping with the work load. During that time, she discovered that while the Soten Kissun was around someone she could feel where every injury was and how it happened. At first she felt that it was in an invasion of privacy, but Unohana told her that it was necessary to know how an injury happened to properly treat it; she felt better about it.

She could feel that the boy had been injured badly in the side; yet she couldn't sense the actual injury. It was like it was already healed before he got to her. There was also a burn mark on his hand, several scars across his torso, and more scars on his back. He was a fighter, just like Ichigo.

Nel walked in as the medic left and watched the girl heal the mysterious boy she had brought here. He was a bigger mystery than Stark was.

"Is he okay?" Nel asked the young healer.

Orihime looked at the busty Arrancar and back at the boy; there was more wrong with him than it looked.

"He has several scars" she said softly "many of them have a dark reiatsu beneath them; a lot of it. The burn mark on his hand has the most of the reiatsu" with a concerned look on her face "I'm not sure how long it will take me to heal him. What happened to him?"

While she had a general idea of how he got some of the injuries, she still wanted to know.

"He was fighting a Hollow" as she walked up next to her equally busty friend "he was protecting a shinigami that was unconscious. Could the dark reiatsu in him cause him to have abilities that shinigami shouldn't have?" she asked the person that was entering the room.

Unohana looked at the boy in the dome as she thought about it. It's never been heard of having so much dark reiatsu in someone that they get abilities that are different than a shinigami's, but wouldn't surprise her. Plus the boy being healed did have some unusual scars on his neck; it was like someone bitten him several times.

"I would have to give him a full exam before I could make an educated guess;" the taichou said "it is odd though," as she starred at his face "he was fine this morning when I wrote his discharge orders."

Tsukune's eyes opened and he saw a golden transparent dome over him. He felt warm, but at the same time he felt like he was burning on the inside. As if something were trying to be forced out of his body. It was a similar feeling to what he felt when he first woke up before he was attacked by those three Hollows.

The Hollow he fought against seemed to know him, but how; he couldn't remember himself. He remembered a strange rift opening up before he felt weak and started to fall to the ground. Now he was here in a golden dome.

He rolled his head over and saw the green haired woman from when he was in Eleventh Division's dojo standing next to an orange haired girl. The girl had her hands on the dome and looked worried.

"You gave everyone a little scare there" Unohana said as she stepped closer and into his field of vision.

"Sorry" he said as he lied still.

His stomach growled loudly as he looked back up. It was weird; he had just eaten a few hours ago. Being here might have given him a few answers as to what his past was, but it only brought more questions. Why was he so hungry? Who was the pale skinned boy he kept hearing? Who was the woman that gave him the stronger zanpakuto? Who was the blue haired girl he saw when the blond woman nearly suffocated him?

"What happened?" Tsukune asked.

He remembered the green haired woman being amongst those that went to give the patrol some back up. If anyone would have answers, she would at least be able to tell him everything that happened. Yes, he could remember pieces of the fight but there were more pieces missing than were there. Like when you get into an accident; you don't remember the hit, but you know you got hit.

"You saved an unconscious shinigami from a Hollow" Nel answered "and I must admit" as Tsukune looked back at her "I was a little impressed."

'_**Finally,'**_ he heard the pale skinned boy shout _**'someone fuckin' notices our strength!'**_

"Is it normal to hear voices?" Tsukune asked the taichou.

"If you have met with your zanpakuto spirit it is normal to be able to hear it" Unohana told him "why?"

Tsukune looked back up to the ceiling. He didn't know how to explain it, he was sure that the pale skinned boy wasn't his zanpakuto spirit, whatever that was. His attitude was darker than his. Plus, he remembered things that he himself couldn't.

"It's probably just her speaking to me" trying to keep his problems to himself.

"You have your zanpakuto already?" she asked with some surprise.

It was unusual for someone to get their zanpakuto so soon after arriving to the Soul Society. Normally it took a few years of meditation to receive one's zanpakuto; and a few more to unlock Shikai. So for him to have received his zanpakuto already, his zanpakuto spirit must have deemed him worthy of wielding it.

"Hai" he said as Orihime recalled the Soten Kisshun "Thank you" as he sat up.

"You shouldn't move around too much" Orihime warned as he swung his legs over the side of the bed "I couldn't get all the dark reiatsu out of you."

"But she told me to train to protect others" he said "besides," as he looked at the ground "if I couldn't beat just one of those Hollows on my own; how can I protect someone else" as he balled up his fist.

Nel was the first to speak up to him.

"If you really wish to get stronger" she said calmly "then you need to rest so you can train properly. If you push yourself when your body isn't able to keep up, you'll only hurt yourself. Besides, I accidently left your zanpakuto back where you fell."

Tsukune didn't need to be told twice; he lay back onto the bed and tried to relax. But there was that urge to fight something that was lingering in him. It didn't feel normal. The pain in his neck was gone, for now, and he was hungry again. He wished he knew what he did when he was alive, at least then he'd know what's going on.

"If you don't mind" Unohana said "I'd like to take a blood sample to see if there are any toxins left in your body."

A partial lie, but the truth. While Orihime's healing abilities surpassed anyone in the Fourth Division's, when there was dark reiatsu in someone it took her longer to heal someone. If he had any toxins left in his system, she wouldn't let him leave until Orihime got all of it out; as well as the dark reiatsu. She would also use the blood sample to check for any abnormalities that could result in powers that shinigami don't have. However, that meant getting Kurotsuchi Mayuri, taichou of the Twelfth Division, involved; they didn't really see eye to eye on much of anything. She'd have to make sure that she kept the boy's identity from the experiment obsessed taichou.

Tsukune nodded; if there were toxins in his body still, it could be bad news for him later on. He kept his eyes on the ceiling as he felt the kind taichou position his arm so she could take a sample. There was a small pinch as the needle went into his vein, but it wasn't too bad. His fingers felt a little cold as his blood filled the vile. When it was full, Unohana used a little of her reiatsu to heal the puncture wound as she pulled the needle out.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

-Kenpachi-

The large taichou walked through the streets trying to find the Clinic. Yachiru was giving him directions; not the best idea he'd ever had. Last time he did that he ran through every district of the Seireitei trying to get to Ichigo when he was invading to save Rukia. When he stopped to think about it, he should've followed that green haired Arrancar; then again, he wasn't that fast… Last time he went to the Clinic, Soifon led the way.

"Are ya sure it's this way?" he asked his young fuku-taichou.

"Turn right" she replied as she pointed in the direction.

Ikkaku and Yumichika were following their taichou with relative ease. Grimmjow had used sonido to look for the Clinic on his own; refusing to follow a shinigami. Yumichika had Tsukune's zanpakuto in his hand and couldn't help but to admire how beautiful it looked. Both the third and fifth seat often questioned why Kenpachi let Yachiru give him directions when it was clear she had no clue where she was going half the time.

"There's a wall there" he snapped.

"Or maybe it's left…" as she put her finger on her chin and thought.

"MAYBE?" he shouted "DID YOU JUST SAY MAYBE?"

"Fine" Yachiru pouted "you can find the way yourself."

Kenpachi sighed. He hated when she got like this and there was only one way to keep her from getting like that.

"You said right?" as he skid to a stop and turned to the right.

"Yup!" she cheered.

Kenpachi lifted his leg and smashed through the wall with a single kick. The rubble crumbled to the ground and he looked through to see another alley way.

"Kenpachi-taichou" Yumichika said as he pointed behind him "there was a sign with directions back at the last turn we took."

Kenpachi just looked at Yachiru with a slightly irritated look.

-Grimmjow-

The panther Arrancar just passed the Tenth Division, he was tempted to stop there when he saw Matsumoto. However, he kept looking for the Clinic where his female ally had taken the Aono boy. He knew he was on the right track when he sensed a small amount of the reiatsu Aono had let off. Luckily it was enough for him to have a general direction to head. He picked up his speed as he passed the Ninth Division's headquarters. He was still a good ways out from the Fourth Division.

When he finally arrived at the Clinic, he walked through the halls and opened a door. While he was looking for Aono he found something better in his opinion; the nurse's changing room.

"Very nice" he smiled as several female shinigami tried to hide their nude selves from the Arrancar.

Next thing he knew he was blasted with a series of Shakkaho Red-Fire Cannons. He had a smile on his face; along with a nose bleed from the view.


	3. Chapter 3

Unohana walked through the Shinigami Research and Development Institute looking for her rival. Normally she wouldn't go to him for anything except to take a small sample of his latest poisons so she could make an antidote before anyone got exposed to it. While it did tend to irritate her that her fellow taichou would use poisons that could take a very long time to kill an opponent, she saw it as a chance to use his expertise against him and make antidotes for anything he could come up with. This now means that she has antidotes for just about any poison that a hollow can secrete from its skin or any rogue shinigami could come up with without Kurotsuchi-taichou himself.

"Hello Nemu-fuku-taichou" she greeted the 'daughter' of Kurotsuchi-taichou.

"Greetings" Nemu said with a bow "Kurotsuchi-sama is in his private study doing research. How may I help you?"

Unohana took this as a bad sign; if he was in his private study, then he was planning something that involved a fight. It was what he always did; he was a strategist and wanted to know every little detail about an opponent before facing against them. It also meant he has going to try to use his next opponent for a research experiment; which was never pleasant. She has seen some of the outcomes from those experiments, and has even tried to get Yamamoto-sou-taichou to put a stop to them.

"I would like you to look at this sample I have for abnormalities" as she handed the girl the vile of blood.

Nemu looked at the blood in the vile and quickly made mental notes on some of the more obvious things; color, thickness, transparency, and other little things. It was a little bit of a surprise to her that the blood was a slightly darker color than usual; but that could just be from a high iron level in the subject's blood stream. Another thing she noticed was that, unlike other samples Unohana had brought by, this one wasn't mixed with a preservative.

"I assume you would like this done as soon as possible" the fuku-taichou guessed.

"It would be appreciated" Unohana said with a smile "and if possible, please don't let Kurotsuchi-taichou know about it. But if he does find out, tell him I ordered you to do it; I don't want to see him hurt you again."

"Hai" she said with a small bow as the taichou left.

-Tsukune-

He had just sat down in the cafeteria, again, when Kenpachi and crew showed up. Yumichika had returned Tsukune's zanpakuto and voiced his opinion about the blade's beauty. Saying that it was one of the most beautiful swords he had ever seen; plus the fighting style he used matched its beauty. Ikkaku was commenting on the fight he had witnessed and said he couldn't wait for his rematch with the boy. If the brown haired boy could do that with no training, the third seat couldn't help but to wonder how strong the boy would be once he became a full shinigami.

"It kinda sucks though" Kenpachi sighed "only Second Division trains shinigami in hand-to-hand combat. We can teach ya ta fight with yer zanpakuto, but if ya wanna learn hand-to-hand ya need ta talk with Soifon-taichou" as he rubbed his chest "hey Ichigo" he said over his shoulder "ya ready ta fight me again?"

The orange haired teen was so close to sneaking out of the cafeteria when Kenpachi noticed him. The one thing the substitute shinigami did not want to do was fight Kenpachi. Main reason being, almost all of his reiatsu was gone now since he used the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho; it drained almost every drop of reiatsu he had. He was still trying to figure out why he still had Zangetsu after using the attack on Aizen.

"You know that Icchii-kun's reiatsu isn't as high as it used to be" Yachiru said with a sad tone.

"Yea" he replied "but he still beat Byakuya and Aizen; both of them I wanted to beat. And since Aizen is now in the Maggot's Nest, and Byakuya is still injured from fighting the Espada. That means he's the only one left for me to fight" as he stood up "so what do ya say?"

"You're crazy" Ichigo sighed as he knew there was no way to truly run from the battle obsessed taichou "besides, I'm not as strong as I was then" as he sat down at the table that everyone else was sitting at.

Tsukune looked at the orange haired teen. There was something different about him; he didn't seem to be like the rest of the shinigami he had seen around. Yet he was wearing the standard uniform of a shinigami and even had a large zanpakuto.

"Who's Aizen?" Tsukune asked the teen.

"A traitor to the Seireitei and former leader of the Espada" Ichigo explained "he kidnapped Orihime and wanted to destroy my home town to make some key. He also used to be the taichou of the Fifth Division."

"Ichigo" Nel cried out as she jumped him and started to give him a bear hug "I'm so glad to see that you're awake. I was starting to get worried" as she squeezed him tighter "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you" the sound of his back cracking from the pressure could be heard over the Arrancar's voice "now we can play Eternal Tag again!"

Tsukune was surprised at this; not the fact that the woman was practically breaking the teen's back, but at how she was acting. It was different than what he had seen earlier. She was serious earlier; but now she was acting completely different. Yet, he felt right at home with the group; it was hard to explain. _'Must have something to do with when I was alive'_ he thought.

"Ne…Nel" Ichigo gasped between the cracking of his vertebra "I… can't breathe…"

Nel let go and looked at Ichigo, who looked like he was about to pass out from either pain or lack of air. She quickly pulled him towards her and hugged him harder than before. Ichigo let out a cry of pain as more vertebra cracked.

"Nel-chan" Orihime called to her as she walked in and saw the amount of pain Ichigo was in "you're gonna hurt him if you don't let go" in a frantic tone that showed she was worried about the teen.

Nel let go for good this time as Orihime called her Soten Kisshun to heal Ichigo's back. It didn't take long for the teenage boy to set up and thank his friend. When Orihime recalled her fairies, Ichigo told Tsukune their story about how he first met Rukia of the Thirteenth Division and became a shinigami. He took her job till she would have her powers back and eventually he came to like being a shinigami.

Then he told him about the attempted execution of Rukia and how he infiltrated the Seireitei to save her. During that time he fought against Ikkaku, Kenpachi, Renji (fuku-taichou of the Sixth Division), and eventually Byakuya. However, once he was done with his battle against the Sixth Division taichou Aizen revealed himself as a traitor and removed and item called Hogyoku, which was now destroyed thanks to Ichigo's final attack against Aizen.

The first revealing of the Espada was one that showed visible regret in his eyes. The Cuatro and Diez Espada showed up and were to determine if Karakura Town was rich enough in spiritual energy to make the Oken, which was a key to get into the Shinigami King's residence. It was during that first encounter that his Hollow side started to give him issues. And it wasn't till after his first fight with Grimmjow that he sought out the Vizoreds to gain control of his Hollow and its powers.

Then they infiltrated Las Noches, the headquarters for the Espada and ruler of Hueco Mundo, to save Orihime; who was kidnapped by the Cuatro Espada by Aizen's orders. That's where he met Nel, who was trapped in a child-like form but still had the appearance of an Arrancar. They pushed through the base and fought many Arrancar; Espada, Privaron Espada (Espada that lost their rank when Aizen took over), Numeros, a few Fraccion, Exequias, and a few none numbered Arrancar.

Their battle eventually led them to a fake Karakura Town, which was made by Kurotsuchi-taichou. This is where almost all of the Espada were killed before Aizen realized it wasn't the real Karakura Town and headed to the Soul Society to use a Senkaimon, a gateway to the Living World from the Soul Society and succeeded. It was then that Ichigo had Kurotsuchi and Nemu open a Garganta for him to travel to the real Karakura Town and learned the final Getsuga Tensho; the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho, which nearly drained all his reiatsu.

"Wow" was all Tsukune could say at the end of the story.

The orange haired boy in front of him looked to be about his age and had done more in the past year than many shinigami did in their life. And to top that, he was human. It was clear that the teen had confidence on a whole nother level than most.

"Now things are pretty calm" Ichigo said "so I should be able to rest and get my strength back. Hopefully though" he looked down "my Hollow won't get stronger too."

"How did it happen;" Tsukune asked him "you getting a Hollow? I thought Hollows were souls that couldn't cross over and became empty."

While he was curious, he wanted to see if he himself could have a Hollow without realizing it. The pale skinned boy knew about him, and more. He knew about his life when he was alive. There was some connection between the boy and his life when he was alive.

"I'm not sure when it actually happened" as he looked away "if I had to guess though; I'd say he started forming when my mother was killed by a Hollow six years ago. I stopped crying, smiling, and shut just about everyone out. But trust me when I say a Hollow isn't something you want; it'll try to possess you at random or during fights."

Ichigo knew what he was talking about. His Hollow had possessed him numerous times during fights. Byakuya, the Bounts, and Ulquiorra were just the major fights where his Hollow had gained control. There was often times when he'd have to suppress the creature when he wasn't fighting. While it wasn't too bad before the Visoreds taught him to control the Hollow, it did get annoying.

"Sounds hard" Tsukune said "does he ever talk to you?"

"Yeah" Ichigo sighed "mostly just taunting me. But lately I haven't heard him; I'm kinda glad."

-Later-

Ikkaku kept his word about buying the sake from his fight with Tsukune. The two were sitting in a bar with Yumichika, Renji, Ichigo, and, surprisingly, Grimmjow. To say there was a tension between Ichigo and Grimmjow would be a slight understatement; if it weren't for the fact that Grimmjow owed Ichigo for saving him and defeating Aizen, there would've been a fight.

Ichigo wasn't really drinking, he just went along to get out of the Clinic; he had been stuck in there for a week. He never would've expected Unohana to be so aggressive with anyone, let alone a patient. She had used a broom stick to knock him to the ground when he first tried to leave the Clinic, and his beating only got worse when he got back up and continued to try to leave. It didn't help that his dad was in the Seireitei either; he was a child trapped in a forty year old man's body.

"Aono" an obviously drunk Grimmjow said "I've been wonderin' how you used sonido earlier" with a glare.

Just about everyone looked at Tsukune with a surprised look.

"I thought every shinigami could do it…" Tsukune replied to the Arrancar.

"Don't confuse an Arrancar's ability with a shinigami's" Grimmjow spat as he took another drink.

"What exactly is an Arrancar?" he asked the panther.

Said Arrancar choked on his drink as he heard the question.

"An Arrancar" Yumichika explained "is a hollow that evolved to the point to where it gained a human-like and occasionally more beautiful appearance, a zanpakuto and lose a good portion of that hideous mask. Look at Jagerjaquez-san; the 'jaws' on his right cheek is what's left of his mask."

Tsukune looked at the Arrancar; he was an outcast here in the Seireitei and knew it. Being a creature that was once a Hollow meant that several shinigami still looked at him as an enemy. That was fine by Grimmjow, just meant he could keep fighting someone; even though his goal was to beat Ichigo when the substitute shinigami got all his reiatsu back.

"Despite being evolved from Hollows" Ichigo added in "they don't need to constantly feed on souls to stay alive. And not all Hollows and Arrancar are bad; Nel is a perfect example. When I first met her, she thought shinigami and humans were the bad guys" as he finally took a sip.

All this sounded very familiar to Tsukune. One side looking at the other as the bad guys, and then the 'bad guys' thinking that the 'good guys' are the actual bad guys. He didn't know how though.

Tsukune drank all of the sake in his cup without thinking and coughed a little as the slight burn at the back of his throat tingled a bit. It had a strong taste that wasn't too bad, but the after taste is what got him. He quickly felt the effects of the alcohol on his body.

"Do you guys think it's possible to have Hollows and Shinigami fight alongside each other?" he asked as his words became slurred.

"That's what Nel is trying to do" Ichigo said seeing the alcohol take effect on the brown haired boy.

"Can you teach me to use son…sin…. Whatever that ability was *hic* you mentioned properly?" the drunk boy asked Grimmjow "Wait…" as he thought before resting his head on the table "Soifon-taichou said she'd *hic* teach me how to fight bare-handed, so I should ask her first…" as he passed out.

"Guess he can't hold his alcohol" Ikkaku said with a surprised tone.

-Morning-

Soifon was walking through the Clinic to Unohana's office for a follow up on her arm. She had cut it off in her fight against the Segunda Espada to keep herself from aging so rapidly that she'd be a pile of bones. While it was painful, she did want had to be done to defeat the former King of Hueco Mundo; even releasing her bankai, something she didn't like to do. Luckily Orihime's Soten Kisshun was able to reverse what was done to her arm, but she still had to do the follow up appointment; she wasn't complaining though, as she gets to continue her duties as a shinigami.

After the appointment and a clearance from Unohana to resume full duties as a taichou, she headed for the exit but found Yoruichi standing outside of Tsukune's room in her human form. The princess of the Tenshiheisoban was looking at Tsukune with a relaxed gaze, but in reality she was examining him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was off about the boy.

"Yoruichi-sama" Soifon said with delight "what brings you here?"

The Nekomusume looked at her former pupil and smiled.

"I was here last night when Ichigo and his friends brought Tsukune back from going out; they said he had one drink and was wasted."

The current taichou looked at the boy, who still had the obvious signs of being drunk on him, and wondered what he was doing back in the Clinic. He had been released yesterday and, from what Yoruichi told her, was at the Eleventh Division's headquarters. Either he jumped the gun to train, or something happened.

She could see that he wanted to get stronger for some reason; it was most likely to protect others, just as he had done when she first saw him. It was a little concerning for her; she admired it when someone wanted to get back into the swing of things after an injury, but she also knew that you still have to wait to fully recover before getting back into everything. It was also a mystery as to why he didn't take her up on her offer to train him in hand-to-hand combat.

Yoruichi noticed that her successor in the Second Division was starring at the boy. She would often mess with the girl to try to convince her to loosen up a little. And of course, Yoruichi being Yoruichi, she wasn't going to pass up another opportunity to do so.

"Has my little Bee finally become interested in someone;" she teased "and a stranger at that?"

Soifon started to turn red; she never really liked being accused of being 'interested' in someone. Especially not Urahara; the single person she despised more than anyone, even Ichigo. Given, she had never even tried to get to know someone enough to become 'interested' in them; because she was loyal to Yoruichi above everyone else, even Yamamoto-sou-taichou.

"Yoruichi-sama!" she blurted out as she turned a deeper shade of red "I wouldn't even consider being interested in anyone. My duties as taichou of the Second Division are far more important!"

"Eh…" the feline sighed "you need to loosen up Bee" as she messed with the taichou's hair "besides" with a sadistic smile "I know you're interested in Ichigo."

"YORUICHI-SAMA!" she shouted "why would you even assume that? Kurosaki is rude, disobedient, has no respect for authority, and above all" as she continued her rant "he is a human. The only reason he was allowed to live was because he lived in an area that was an active hunting ground for Hollows. So rather than waste resources, they gave him a title and badge so he could protect the town he lives in."

While most of what she said was true, the reason he was left alive was because he had proven himself to just about every taichou when he saved Rukia.

"You really need to learn to loosen up" she sighed again "and just because he's human doesn't mean anything. Most of those within the Seireitei were human when they were alive, with only a handful being Yokai; like myself. Even Tsukune isn't a full human," she returned her gaze to the boy "I don't know why, but I can feel something dark within him. He doesn't seem to be strong enough to suppress it by himself; it's waiting for something" as her eyes narrowed.

Tsukune opened his eyes and felt like he had been hit by a train. His head was splitting, mouth was dry, and was starving. The last thing he remembered from last night was what the guy with the odd eyebrows explained Arrancar to him. After that, everything was a blur. He sat up to try to make sense of his surroundings; that was a mistake. He quickly felt like he was spinning and fell onto the ground.

Soifon and Yoruichi sweat dropped as the boy tried to get back up and somehow managed to get to where he was sitting against the bed. The boy had to be an extreme light-weight if his was the morning after a _single_ drink.

"Aono" Soifon said in a demanding tone "care to explain your actions from yesterday and last night?"

Tsukune quickly became nervous; he had no clue what he did last night other than going out for a drink. Did he do something he was going to regret; or was this about something else? He had no idea what to do, or say for that fact.

Soifon walked into the room and saw something out the corner of her eye. Leaned up against the wall in the corner, was a zanpakuto. It was mahogany in color, both scabbard and hit, and had olive branches running along the entire length of the scabbard. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was his.

'_He gained his zanpakuto in just one day?'_ she thought.

There was a static like boom and Grimmjow was at the window seal with a smug smile. No he wasn't hung over from the previous night's affairs, but he did remember Tsukune asking him to teach him how to use it properly. So by right that made the boy his Fraccion; no matter what anyone said or did.

"Hey there" he said as he stepped down from the window.

Soifon still didn't trust the Arrancar in front of her. While she trusted Nel, Grimmjow was no better than Ichigo in her books. Her eyes narrowed at the Arrancar as he simply walked over to Tsukune's zanpakuto and picked it up. The panther examined it before he threw it to Tsukune, who barely caught it, and walked towards the door.

"Get up Aono" he ordered. The boy had a confused look on his face before Grimmjow explained "you asked me to train ya, so I'm gonna train ya. NOW GET UP AND MOVE!"

Tsukune quickly got up, well struggled to but still managed, and hurried to catch up to the Arrancar. He couldn't remember if he had asked the evolved Hollow to train him, but he didn't seem to be the type to train someone from the kindness of his heart. The only answer was that he had asked the Arrancar to train him while he was hammered; which was why he couldn't remember asking.

"I think he needs his rest" Yoruichi spoke as she used Shunpo to block Grimmjow's path.

"He asked me to teach him how to use sonido properly" he replied as he returned the Nekomusume's glare "so I'm going to."

Yoruichi had a surprised look when those words left the Arrancar's mouth. Tsukune had used an Arrancar ability; that had never been heard of before. The line between shinigami and hollow was only blurred by the Visoreds. How was this possible?

"Be careful in how you address Yoruichi-sama" Soifon warned as she reached for her zanpakuto.

"If I asked Grimmjow-san to teach me" Tsukune said to keep anything from happening "then I want him to teach me. If it's alright with you Grimmjow-san" as he looked at the Arrancar "can you train me for a little while and then let Soifon-taichou teach me hand-to-hand combat?"

"Fine by me" Grimmjow said with a snicker.

Grimmjow and Tsukune walked pass Yoruichi and down the hall to leave. Yoruichi was still confused as to how a shinigami could use an Arrancar ability. Not even the Visoreds could use sonido; despite some of them being able to use Cero. Just how right was she when she said she didn't think he was fully human?

-Eleventh Division training ground-

Grimmjow stood across from Tsukune in the large open field; Kenpachi had already cleared him to use it to train Aono. The reasoning behind it was, as Kenpachi put it, 'because I wanna see what he can truly do'. Grimmjow wanted to know just how many Arrancar abilities the boy could use; sonido was a very good start because just about every species had its own variant of the fast movement ability. The shinigami had Shunpo, and the Quincy had Hirenkyaku; both of which required years of training to do. Sonido was an instinctual ability; the reason it took some Arrancar so long to be able to use it would be because they'd be trying too hard.

"I'll start simple;" the Arrancar said "sonido is the Arrancar version of the shinigami's Shunpo, but it's much better" as he vanished with a static-like boom and reappeared behind Tsukune with the same affect "because it's instinct that lets us use it; not years of fuckin' trainin' that could have no end result."

Tsukune turned quickly, but not quick enough to see the fist coming at him. The punch landed right in his side and knocked him to the ground with ease. Pain shot through Tsukune's body as struggled to get up; Grimmjow had held back a lot and intentionally aimed for just below the kidney. It was a painful hit but wouldn't do any real damage to the person receiving it.

"Dodge my attacks" Grimmjow ordered "using sonido. And don't expect them to all come at you from behind," as he vanished and appeared in front of the boy "I'm gonna make it random."

Tsukune immediately tensed up as he saw the fist come at his stomach. From his point of view it was moving slow, but in reality he had but a split second to move before he got hit. If he didn't dodge, there was no telling how much pain he would be in; he had to move. And move he did, there was a static-like boom as he put distance between him and his new mentor. Although he was winded by doing so, he still dodged the attack.

His eyes widened as he realized how easy it was to use the ability; it was just as Grimmjow had said, instinct. Just like when he used it to protect the unconscious shinigami the day before.

"Pay attention" Grimmjow said as he appeared next to Tsukune midway through a kick "or you won't last long in a real fight" as the foot made contact with Tsukune's left side.

While this style of training was the same Grimmjow went through when he first became an Arrancar, he was still taking it easy on his Fraccion. The boy was no good dead, so to speak. It might have been a while since he last had a Fraccion but he still knew how to train one. He didn't believe in Nel's approach of being gentle with them and babying them; the best way to learn was when your life was at risk, just like in Hueco Mundo. You got stronger by fighting to survive, eating your opponent, and absorbing their strength. It was that simple, just like sonido was all instinct.

Tsukune coughed up a little blood as he got back up. His mentor was coming at him like Ikkaku did yesterday; not taking it easy because he was new at something. He wasn't sure as to how good he was at sonido, but neither did Grimmjow; so that meant he had to be pushed so they could find out. He honestly couldn't tell if the Arrancar was holding back or going all out; neither would surprise him though.

He heard Grimmjow appear behind him, there was no time to think about it; so he moved. Grimmjow smiled, his Fraccion was a fast learner. This was good; it meant that he wouldn't have to waste time on teaching him little things like this. He quickly vanished and appeared behind Aono at the same time he reappeared.

Tsukune thought he was safe for a second and could catch his breath. He had no idea that his mentor was already behind him again ready to land a punch to his side. His own sonido had covered the noise of Grimmjow's; and he was fixing to pay the price for it.

-Tsukune's mindscape-

The pale skinned boy was laughing at Tsukune's misfortune of sparring with the Arrancar. He was beginning to like the panther though, and if this was how he trained others he could be strong enough to face anyone without a problem in no time. Given he was already strong enough to fight any Yokai on his own and win, but there were a few species where he'd end up pretty banged up by the end of the fight.

He knew why Tsukune was able to use that sonido, as the Arrancar had called it; it was _her_ fault. This was only further proof that she took his humanity away from him; he couldn't use Shunpo, but instead was on the boundary between Hollow and shinigami. Only there was nothing the 'Visoreds' could do to help him. Tsukune would never be strong enough to suppress him on his own; that's why the hooded man gave him that damned Holy Locket.

"**What I wouldn't give to have that mirror"** he sighed as he wished he could fight the panther himself.

The mirror would separate him and Tsukune; as well as him from the woman he shared this mindscape with. She wasn't a nuisance, but she still got annoying as hell. But he often let it brush off his shoulders; after all, she was the only company in this mindscape.

-Tsukune-

He had surprised not only himself but his mentor as well; he had dodged a good number of attacks from the Arrancar. Twenty to be precise; out of almost two hundred. It was still a rather good start, according to Grimmjow. The boy adapted quickly to the training style that Grimmjow had used. Which opted him to go faster and use more strength in each of the attacks against his Fraccion.

While said boy was bruised badly, it wasn't crippling. Grimmjow didn't want to complete destroy the boy; after all, merely being an Arrancar didn't actually make you one. You had to have a Fraccion that could also fight on a level near yours. That's where he failed with his previous Fraccion, they were all weak; being defeated by seated shinigami officers and not actual taichou. And that was unacceptable.

"Can we take a break?" Tsukune asked as he pated while getting up from getting hit.

Grimmjow merely looked at the boy and could see he needed a break. He sighed as he nodded at the Fraccion.

Tsukune sat down on the ground and looked around; several members of Eleventh Division had come to watch the Arrancar train him. Some looked like they wanted to jump in and fight, but lacked the guts to try it. Grimmjow was not one that liked when someone interfered with his fights, or his training. A few were in tears from loosing bets on how long till Tsukune needed a break; they had lost an entire pay check on a single training session.

"Ya lasted longer than I thought you would" the Arrancar said "an hour of none stop sonido" he laughed "I wasn't thinkin' ya'd last that long."

"Thank you" Tsukune said as Yachiru handed him some water.

"Kitty's training isn't much different than Ken-chan's" she said as she remembered how he wormed out the weak when he first became taichou.

Grimmjow felt a vein in his forehead pulse at the nickname the brat had given him.

'_I am not a KITTY!'_ he mentally shouted.

"I'm gonna go to train with Soifon-taichou for a little bit" Tsukune said as he got up.

He knew that he was going to have questions to answer when he got there. Mainly about him asking Grimmjow to train him. It wasn't going to be easy explaining it to her, because he really couldn't remember much of last night.

-Second Division-

Tsukune walked through the gate and saw several shinigami training in hand-to-hand combat. While none of them made it obvious they noticed him, they did. He felt uneasy as he continued to the main door that was the entrance to the headquarters of the Division. Fear was flowing through his body as he reached for the door; he felt completely out of place here.

"Where do you think you're going" he heard behind him.

He turned around to see a large man eating a bag of chips. He had a purple cloth showing at the collar of his shinigami uniform, and a fuku-taichou badge on his upper arm.

"Soifon-taichou said she'd teach me how to fight hand-to-hand" Tsukune answered.

"Ya right," as he shoved another handful of chips into his mouth "why don't you get back to the Academy before you embarrass yourself" as he pushed Tsukune aside and walked into the building.

Tsukune felt something inside him snap. This guy didn't know that Soifon had told him she'd teach him, but even then he still should've escorted him to the taichou to be sure. He was already feeling like he belonged in Eleventh Division.

"I'm not leaving till Soifon-taichou trains me" he said.

The fuku-taichou stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the boy. He was small and fragile looking; a commoner.

"I will force you to leave" the fuku-taichou said firmly "with violence if I need to" as he placed his hand on his zanpakuto.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as Marechiyo walked towards the boy. He had often used the fact that he's from a noble family to push some folks around. If the brown haired boy wasn't going to back down, they would see if the fat fuku-taichou was even worthy of the rank.

Up in a tower, Soifon watched as Omaeda walked towards the boy that had taken three hollows with his bare hands and did rather well. His ignorance sickened her; the only reason he got his rank was because he was from a noble family. This would give her the perfect opportunity to have him demoted and select a fuku-taichou for herself. This was something she had been waiting for, for a very long time.

"I don't want to fight," Tsukune said as he refused to move away from the fuku-taichou "but Soifon-taichou said she'd train me. So I'm going to see her."

'_**Wow'**_ he heard the pale boy taunt him _**'you finally grew a pair. Guess that cute taichou means somethin' to ya'**_ he laughed.

Omaeda drew his zanpakuto and pointed it at the bruised up boy. Thinking that the boy couldn't fight for shit because of the bruises he was sporting. He had no idea how wrong he was.

Omaeda made the first move by swinging at Tsukune with almost all his strength. He wanted to make an example out of him, but at the same time he didn't want to kill the boy; that would mean more paperwork for him. Everyone kept saying he didn't deserve the rank he has; so he was going to prove them wrong.

Tsukune watched the blade get closer to him; it was slower than Grimmjow's attacks, so he could easily dodge it. His mentor's attacks were so fast that he only had a split second to move; this guy's attack gave him more than that. Instinct kicked in as he used sonido to dodge the blade and put some distance between him and the fat fuku-taichou. He noticed that everyone had a surprised look on their faces; that seemed to be the norm when he used the ability.

After Grimmjow explained sonido to him, while attacking him of course, he understood that being able to use it was a complete shock to everyone. No shinigami could use sonido because it was an Arrancar ability. That made him question what he was; was he human, or was he Hollow? Why could he use the ability that no other shinigami could? If that wasn't bad enough, he couldn't help but to feel like the pale skinned boy that taunted him knew the answers.

Omaeda's eyes went wide when the boy vanished with a static boom. Not only did he miss, but he was caught completely off guard. Only Arrancar could use that ability, but he was fighting an academy student. This annoyed him a lot, so much so that he released his Shikai.

"Smash; Gegetsuburi" as his zanpakuto turned into a spiked ball on a chain.

Tsukune drew his zanpakuto; while he honestly didn't want to fight this guy, he was giving him no choice. He saw the spiked ball get launched at him with great speed; all he could do was block the sphere with his zanpakuto and hope for the best. When the ball made contact with his blade, he could feel the momentum push him backwards and launch him into a wall.

When he smashed against the wall, he felt the wind get knocked right out of him. The pain moved throughout his body as he fell to the ground. He wasn't expecting that much force behind the attack at all. This guy was serious about fighting him; even though he had told the man he didn't want to fight. Now he had to…

He stood back up and faced his opponent; who was already waiting to attack him again. The spiked sphere was thrown at him again, only this time he dodged it completely. He didn't want to get hit by that thing again; it might not be as fast as Grimmjow's attacks, but it still hurt a lot.

Tsukune appeared behind Omaeda and was ready to deliver an ax kick to the fuku-taichou's head. How he knew how to do this was a mystery to him, but he didn't have time to think about it. He had to focus on his fight. Suddenly a mental image of a silver haired girl doing the same thing to what appeared to be a mermaid came to his mind. She was wearing a green jacket, plaid miniskirt, white shirt under her jacket and had a chocker collar around her neck that had a chain on it. He felt like he knew this girl too…

Omaeda vanished using Shunpo and noticed the boy he was fighting wasn't paying attention. He decided to use that to his advantage and threw his Shikai at him. The boy didn't notice until it was too late. Everyone let out a wince as they saw the ball hit Tsukune dead on in his side and smashed him into a wall.

Tsukune picked himself up and watched as blood stained his white shirt. One of the spikes had landed just right and pierced a hole in his side.

'_Let some blood fall onto your blade'_ he heard the woman tell him _'it will heal you.'_

Tsukune put the blade to his side and let some of his blood flow onto it. There was a sharp stinging as he felt the wound close up and the pain showed on his face. It wasn't much, but it at least stopped the bleeding.

Omaeda was confused about why the boy put his zanpakuto to his wound. But he didn't have time to think about it before he heard a static like boom and felt a powerful kick to the side of his face which sent him flying into a wall face first. When he hit, the wall crumbled around him. When he got up he saw Soifon standing in front of him. Fear filled his body as he knew she was pissed.

"You can't follow simple orders can you" she said in a tone that showed how pissed she was "Aono told you that I offered to teach him how to fight with his bare hands" as she pulled the fuku-taichou badge off his arm "and you don't have enough common sense to bring him to me to see if he's telling the truth. Then you lose to him; consider yourself demoted to non-seated" as she walked away from him and over to Tsukune "Aono, an emergency taichou meeting has been called and I need a stand in fuku-taichou till I decide how will replace Omaeda."

"BUT" Omaeda shouted before Soifon looked at him with a death glare.

Tsukune couldn't believe he just caused the guy to lose his rank. He didn't mean to cause the commotion, but he was just seeing if the female taichou had time to train him today. And to top that, she asked him to stand in for the former fuku-taichou.

"Aono, don't just stand there" she ordered as she walked to the taichou chamber.

Tsukune followed the taichou as he sheathed his zanpakuto. When he caught up he felt the wound on his side and his eyes went wide; it was fully healed, not even a scar remained. His zanpakuto gave him healing abilities that rival anyone in Fourth Division's. Now he wanted to know her name and get to know her better to find out what was going on.

-First Division Headquarters-

Tsukune walked in with Soifon, only behind her, and saw eight other taichou standing in the room with their fuku-taichou behind them. Every one of the shinigami in the room was wearing a clean uniform and looked serious. He felt out of place with his blood stained white shirt that had a hole in it.

He recognized Kenpachi and Unohana; the rest though were new to him. One of the taichou resembled a large dog; almost like a werewolf. Next he saw the fuku-taichou that suffocated him in her breasts; the thought made him blush a little. She was standing behind a taichou that didn't look any older than twelve.

"Soifon-chan" one taichou spoke up "what happened to your fuku-taichou?"

Tsukune looked at the taichou that spoke. He was wearing a pink and flowered kimono over his shinigami uniform and a straw hat. He seemed to be laid back, in his tone and his appearance. But also, he had a look in his eyes much like the green haired Arrancar from earlier; he's not someone you'd want to fight against.

"I got tired of him" she said as she walked over to her place amongst the taichou "besides; Aono beat him."

"Knew you were strong" Kenpachi laughed.

The doors opened again and an old man walked in and took a seat in the chair at the far end of the hall. He had an air of frailty to him as he walked pass everyone with his fuku-taichou. While he showed all the signs of aging; there was little doubt in Tsukune's mind that this man was someone to disobey.

"This Emergency Taichou Meeting has been called to order" he said with a booming voice that echoed against the walls of the huge hall "Kurotsuchi-taichou; please present your findings."

A man that had his face covered in paint and wearing his hair like an Egyptian Pharaoh's stepped forward as the room darkened and a three dimensional image appeared in the center of the room. It was a large mansion looking image that looked very familiar to Tsukune.

"Recently" the taichou of Twelfth Division began "my scanners pick up an unusual spike in reiatsu. Upon investigation I found that there is a pocket between the Soul Society and the World of the Living. This is where that spike came from;" as the image zoomed out to show a more precise location "when I adjusted the scanners I found that there was but a few buildings in this pocket and many creatures with unusual reiatsu inhabiting them; a few with extremely high reiatsu…"

"Yokai Academy" Tsukune said in a low voice.

Little did he realize that his voice echoed rather well through the hall and everyone heard him.

"Soifon-taichou" Yamamoto said "who is this and where is your fuku-taichou?"

"Omaeda had lost his rank prior to the meeting being called" she explained "Aono beat him; so I asked him to fill in as my fuku-taichou until I can find a replacement."

To say Soifon was furious would be spot on. Not only did Tsukune look like a mess, but he spoke without being spoken too.

"Aono" Yamamoto asked looking at him "why did you call this place" pointing to the image of the mansion "Yokai Academy?"

"It's the first words that came to me" he replied as he looked at the image.

"Very well" he said as he stood up "Soifon-taichou and Aono will go to this 'Yokai Academy' and investigate it."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia: hosted by Kurotsuchi-taichou…

"In light of recent discoveries" the taichou spoke "I decided to start these segments to educate everyone on Yokai" he extended his pointer as a screen lit up "I'll begin with a Yokai species that is a taichou in our very own Gotei Thirteen; the werewolf" as Sajin walked in.

On the screen, old transcripts of the species appeared. A few had diagrams of the werewolf anatomy in a lithograph.

"This species was discovered by humans in the sixteenth century" Kurotsuchi began "their appearance is based off the phase of the moon. Until the moon becomes full they can hold a human appearance and change into their true forms at will. However," as the screen changed to an animation of a human being forcibly changed into a werewolf under a full moon "when the moon is full and its light reflecting onto the species; they are forced to change into their humanoid appearance of a wolf. Texts suggest that the species is weakened when hit with any silver object; even something as simple as a coin. While many can change their forms to match that of a human's to blend in; some cannot. An example of those rare cases is the Gotei Thirteen's own Komamura-taichou" as he looked at the werewolf "in cases like these, the creature will often hide itself to keep from being harmed by others."

"It's not pleasant being one of these cases" the werewolf said.

"If you'd like" the Twelfth Taichou offered "I can do a few experiments to see if I can make it so you can change into a human form."

The werewolf thought about it for a second. While he liked being himself he often wondered what he'd look like as a human. Would he tall; have long hair; have a face that the women couldn't ignore; or better yet, have whisker marks on his face to show his lineage? But before he could reply, he remembered that his fellow taichou was rarely kind to his test subjects.

Images of being treated like a rabid animal came to his head; locked in a cage with only enough to survive being fed to him. Strapped to a cold steel slab with tubes attached to him. The self modified taichou standing over him with a sadistic smile on his face while slowly cutting away his well kept fur and making lines to show where he needed to cut on his bare skin. And worse…

He looked at the taichou; who had a sadistic smile on his face…

"I'll pass" he said as he walked out of the room with a terrified look on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Tsukune and Soifon stepped out of the Senkaimon and onto the ground of what appeared to be a bus stop. Tsukune was now wearing an actual shinigami uniform as well as the fuku-taichou badge; Soifon let him wear it since he is still acting as her fuku-taichou. The wind picked up and Tsukune turned around to see a scarecrow that had a pumpkin for a head. It looked familiar to him; but he had just got here, how could it look familiar to him?

"Aono" Soifon ordered "split up and cover as much ground as you can. Be careful, we don't know if this place is dense enough with spiritual energy to allow those here to see us" as she vanished with a swish.

Tsukune didn't have time to reply to the taichou. As he prepared to use sonido he felt a slight pain in his neck; it wasn't that bad, but it was noticeable. The pale skin boy hadn't talked to him since his fight with Soifon's former fuku-taichou; it was nice to have some peace and quiet. With a static like boom, he was gone from his position. He had a duty to do, and didn't want to disappoint Soifon.

He was sure she was already upset with him about speaking out of turn during the Emergency Taichou Meeting. She might not have voiced it, but it showed when she was giving him his new uniform. She practically threw the clothing at him and didn't say a word to him while they were traveling through the Senkaimon.

As he moved through the woods he could've sworn everything was familiar to him; he also kept looking over his shoulder as if he were expecting something to come from nowhere and hit him. It was an odd feeling that he couldn't shake to save his life; but if he had to put money on it, he'd bet that this place was somewhere he came to when he was alive. Maybe it held answers for him…

-Moka-

It was the first day of the new school year and the S-rank vampiress barely got any sleep the previous night. Her nightmares were coming more frequently; nightmares that couldn't possibly come true anymore because of Tsukune's death a few weeks ago. She'd dream that she'd wake up and Tsukune would be there in her room. At first she'd be happy and rush over to him; thinking she'd finally be able to apologize for everything. But when she'd get close to him, he'd look at her and while it was Tsukune, it wasn't; it was his ghoulish nature controlling him. He'd grab her by her throat and glare at her with empty, rage, hate filled eyes as he'd begin to utterly demolish her. The only words that he'd say were 'why'. And she knew full well what he wanted to know with the question.

"I couldn't" she said to herself.

She is a pure bred vampire of noble blood. He is… was human. He didn't belong at Yokai Academy, he knew it; yet he stayed and was nearly killed by just about everyone. Each of the enemies he made at this Academy almost found out he was human; almost being the key word. If it weren't for the fact that he was surrounded by the hottest, and strongest, girls in school he would've been found out. Being around her and her friends had everyone fooled that he was some powerful Yokai that was extremely modest and only showed his strength when he needed to. He stood strong against a Yuko, befriended some of the most notorious Yokai, and even had the favor of a Hades Lord. Yet something as simple as Youki depletion is what killed him.

-Tsukune-

He stood on top of a tower and looked down at the students walking in the court yard. None of them had taken notice of him so far; so he considered himself lucky. It meant that they weren't aware of his presence and he could observe their normal behaviors.

"It is an academy" he said to himself as he saw several students with bags on their backs "but how did I know that?"

An image of him sitting in a class with a bunch of students that were dressed similarly to the ones he was watching. They all looked human, but something told him that they weren't. One guy that was sitting next to him had a freakishly long tongue. As the image continued he saw a pink haired girl jumping onto him and hugging him; making all the guys in the room jealous.

The pain in his neck returned, only this time it was a little stronger. He grabbed the base of his neck where the pain was and winced in pain. It was a burning pain that felt like it was creeping up his neck and slowly making him hungry, thirsty and feel weaker. What was wrong with him?

He jumped down from the tower and landed where no one would see him if they could. As he took a few deep breaths the pain began to subside enough for him to continue his mission. So he walked around the empty area and started to look for something that could either trigger another memory or give him information about the academy.

"Hey" he heard a girl's voice shout out to him.

He ignored it; he couldn't be seen, right? So whoever the girl was talking to had to be on the other side of him.

"I'm talking to you!" she shouted.

When he looked over to the source of the voice he saw a girl with orange red hair in two ponytails, red shirt and skirt, and black tube socks; it was none other than the attitude filled younger sister of Moka, Kokoa. His eyes widened, but not at the fact that she had a bat on her shoulder or even a fang showing; a small portal was opening up behind her.

"Answer me when I talk to you!" she shouted as she grabbed the bat and it changed into a katana.

Tsukune wasn't paying attention to the girl, but rather the portal. It wasn't closing as fast as the ones he saw when he woke up in the Soul Society; it was lingering. There was a slight movement that caught his eye and he grabbed his zanpakuto. If the thing that came out was a Hollow, he'd have to kill it quickly. The last thing he wanted was to have a full scale issue with the taichou about blowing his cover _and_ letting the masked creature kill someone when he could've stopped it.

Kokoa was furious. First the boy wouldn't answer her, and then he looked at her and grabbed his sword. She was furious that someone would look down to her; she hated it from her family and even more from someone that doesn't know her.

Tsukune's eyes were fixed on the camouflaged creature. He didn't want to lose sight of it for even a second; his training with Grimmjow earlier taught him to never let your eyes leave your enemy. Else wise, you could get killed. The creature was moving slowly to keep from making noise and alerting its prey; who was facing Tsukune at the moment. He had to move and kill it before it got to the girl in front of him.

He placed his other hand on his scabbard and prepared to use sonido to kill the Hollow quickly. The girl must have thought the gesture was made towards her because she quickly started to charge at him with her sword ready to swing. She clearly didn't know what was behind her; otherwise she wouldn't be focusing on him. Tsukune took one normal step before disappearing in the static boom that comes with the Arrancar ability.

Kokoa swung her sword as the boy disappeared. She felt no contact between her weapon and the boy she was facing. That could only mean that she had missed completely and was soon going to feel the top half of her body separate from the lower half. But she didn't; instead she heard a howl of pain and something vaporizing. She quickly turned around and managed to see half the creature Tsukune had killed vaporize into thin air. She couldn't believe that that creature was behind her the entire time and she didn't notice it.

Her eyes were quickly drawn to the boy's outfit. It was a black kimono with a white sash holding the jacket in place. Her eyes widened when she saw a cut in the outfit, as well as some blood. The boy didn't show any signs of pain from the injury; he had ignored her threat and saved her. All the while taking her hit.

Tsukune watched the creature vaporize before he sheathed his zanpakuto and then vanished using sonido. He could feel a little blood pour out from the wound that the girl inflected on him. Luckily though, some of the Hollow's black blood was still on his zanpakuto; which should heal him if what the woman said was true. There was slight stinging as the wound began to close up. It wasn't too bad though; he was thankful for that.

He stopped moving when he found he was in a forest that had no one else around. The trees didn't have any leaves; there was no grass, nor creatures to make the usual sounds of a forest. It was empty and barren; yet it seemed familiar too him. He shook the feeling as he looked at his cut uniform and decided to look at the injury that lies underneath it. He carefully shed the two layers that made up the top of his uniform and looked at the cut; it wasn't deep, and it was healing on its own thanks to his zanpakuto. As he began to put his tops back on he felt an extremely strong pain in his neck and fell to the ground from feeling weak.

'_**Now I can have revenge'**_ he heard the pale boy laugh as the pain continued to grow.

Tsukune didn't know how to control the boy, but he couldn't fight the hunger he was feeling. It slowly got worse as he tried to prevent the boy from taking over him. There was nothing he could do.

"**Now" **he laughed as he got up **"for the sweet taste of revenge."**

-Moka-

She walked through the parted crowd; it was normal for them to do that. They were either afraid of her power or being nice with hopes that she'd talk to them. Either way she didn't care, none of them would be able to see her for her like Tsukune did. He looked pass everything that struck fear into others and even stood against her to keep her from killing Kurumu.

She saw her sister storming to the door, ranting about something. So she walked over to her to see what it was about.

"That damn prick!" Kokoa vented "first he ignores me, then he saves me and just disappears like some he's some hot shot. He didn't even flinch at the injury I gave him!"

"Who?" Moka asked her little sister.

"I don't know" she said as she crossed her arms "but the teme had blood that smelled really good" as a tick mark appeared on her forehead.

She couldn't help but to lick the blood that was on Kyo off him. It smelled so good it was intoxicating to her. She had never met anyone that had blood that smelled that good.

"Would you be able to recognize him again?" Moka asked her.

"Hard to forget his stupid black kimono and katana" Kokoa spat "not to mention that messy brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn't that tall, and looked like that guy you hung out with last year."

Moka quickly grabbed her little sister by her throat. Kokoa thought it was nothing, but was she wrong. Moka tended to get testy when someone even hinted at the guy since he died.

"Don't play games with me. Tsukune died last year" as she tightened her grip "and I haven't seen anyone around here that looks like him."

Kokoa wasn't playing games with her sister. She did see someone that looked just like that Tsukune guy; only he wasn't in the school uniform. Why wouldn't she believe her? There was a static boom behind her and she saw her sister's eyes widen. It was like she was seeing a ghost; or the same guy that saved Kokoa earlier. There was a second boom and anger filled Moka's eyes.

Immediately Moka dropped her sister and started to run after the boy. She had enough of his scent to follow him, but he was moving very fast; even for her. She had barely caught a glimpse of the boy, and it turns out Kokoa wasn't playing games with her; there was someone that looked like Tsukune on campus. He even smelled like him.

She continued to follow the scent till she started to run through a trail in the forest just before the bus stop. Where she had met Tsukune for the first time. She had made a solid hit on him while her outer self was riding her bike.

"**Ironic ain't it"** she heard a voice say to her **"we met here; again"** as a figure jumped from a tree.

Moka couldn't believe her eyes; it was Tsukune. And he remembered her.

"**Don't tell me that someone as 'powerful and prideful' as you doesn't believe in ghosts"** as Tsukune looked at her.

When he did, she saw that his eyes were different; they were yellow set in black and filled with anger. Tsukune wasn't an angry person… Then she saw it, the black flame like tattoo at the base of his neck that was reaching to his face.

"Who are you" she demanded to know.

"**I fuckin' knew you didn't care that I was dead"** he spat **"I bet you just moved on to some other poor son of a bitch to treat as you personal meal."**

"ANSWER ME!"

"**I'm Tsukune"** he said in a calm tone.

"There's no way you're Tsukune" she said with anger in her voice "he died in my arms two weeks ago. NOW TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!"

"**I AM TSUKUNE YOU WHORE!"** he shouted back

Those words only fueled her anger. No one, NO ONE, called her such a name. And if that wasn't enough, this person was doing a horrible job at impersonating Tsukune. He never swore, or called anyone by anything but their name.

"No you're not" as she went to land a kick on his face.

Tsukune quickly ducked and punched the vampire in her side. He didn't use his full strength, not yet; he wanted her to suffer first. After everything she put him through, he'd make her feel every bit of physical pain he did and more. In a perfect world he'd make her feel every piece of emotional pain she made him feel when she rejected him.

When Tsukune's fist connected with her side, she felt like she had just been hit by her older sister. The force was unreal; Tsukune was never this strong, right. He was a pacifist that refused to fight except to protect someone. Rarely would he fight for himself, but even then he knew that if he lost others would suffer. There was only one explanation, this was his ghoul's strength; not Tsukune's.

A smile grew on Tsukune's face as he saw blood begin to spill from Moka's mouth from the hit. Not even the 'powerful' vampire could take a hit from him. And he wasn't using his new abilities yet either; right now he was just going to enjoy pounding the silver haired vampire like a bag. After all, she was nothing to 'him'. He stopped trying to impress her after he knocked out Kuyo and she rejected him the first time; too bad his weaker side didn't see things the way he did.

"**Not so tough now; are ya, bitch"** he spat as he grabbed her jacket and pulled her into his knee causing her to spit up more blood.

Moka recovered from the hit just in time to see a fist connect with her face. Her cheek felt like it had just been shattered; no one ever hit her with enough force to even fracture her bones, let alone completely break one. Before she could finish thinking about the pain, there was a new source of pain in her ribs. 'Tsukune' had moved so quick that she didn't see him spin around so he'd be in front of her and kick her in the ribs.

Moka locked her jaw to keep from screaming in pain. The power he had used was more than she was used to getting hit with; not even her sisters hit her that hard. Yet right now, 'Tsukune' was going to pound her into the ground like it was nothing but a rag doll. She felt something that she had never felt before; weak. She couldn't find an opening on him, and even though she did; he'd merely use her attack against her.

"**Don't tell me yer done already"** as he watched Moka struggle to get up **"how pathetic"** as she started to fall back to the ground **"oh, I know somethin' that'll be fun"** as a sadistic grin grew across his face **"one hit"** as he opened his arms up **"take any hit ya wanna. But make it a good one"** he laughed **"cause once I get back up, I'm gonna kill ya. After that I might drag yer body around the campus and sing a victory tune. What would be a good song?"** as he rubbed his head.

Moka couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way this was in any form Tsukune; he would never kill anyone. Let alone degrade the dead in such a way. He was better than that; he was a good person. Even with how she treated him, he was still kind to her; he was constantly willing to give his life to protect her. Even when the risk was turning into a ghoul forever, he wouldn't stop fighting to protect her when necessary.

She fought back a tear as she realized that this is Tsukune; or at least the ghoul side of him. The side that she was responsible for creating; the side that was Tsukune's opposite. The Tsukune she knew wouldn't say anything against her, even though he was hurting on the inside from how she viewed him. This was her fault and she had to fix it; for Tsukune.

"I'll… kill you… with one hit then…" she managed to say as she got up.

"**Now yer talkin'"** the ghoulish Tsukune laughed.

Moka ran as best she could towards Tsukune and jumped in the air. She had to have as much force and momentum as possible for this hit in order to kill him. She didn't want to waste time thinking about what she had to do; she couldn't if she had to kill him. Tsukune was the only person she cared for outside of her family. He was proof that Yokai and humans could live, knowingly, together and be peaceful. He was more than a friend in her eyes. Even though she'd never admit it; she loved him.

As she brought her heel down on Tsukune's head for an ax-kick, a tear began to fall from her eye. She kept pushing him away because she was afraid of the feelings she had for him. Afraid that they'd make her soft, weak, and easy to manipulate. But no matter how hard she kept pushing him, he kept coming back; this only made her feelings for the human increase. He didn't care that being around her could get him killed or that she was a vampire and he was human. She was just Moka to him; not a blood sucking freak of nature that many kids referred to vampires as when she was in a human school.

She let the momentum continue as she brought her other heel down as well and knocked snapped Tsukune's head straight into the ground. The force caused a small crater to form around Tsukune's head and body as he hit the ground. There was not a doubt in her mind that that was enough force to snap his neck and kill him. While it hurt, she knew it had to be done; to save him from what was possessing him. She would have started crying if it weren't for the fact that 'Tsukune' started to get back up.

"**Ya call that a hit"** he said as he popped his neck and dusted himself off **"Kusabi hit harder than that; and we fought him yesterday."**

Moka's eyes widened. Tsukune had fought against the Monstrel again, in the afterlife…

"**Don't looked too surprised"** as he smiled **"I'm sure *Tsukune* will tell you all about that fight when he meets you in the Soul Society"** as he picked her up by her throat and began to suffocate her.

"Stop… it" Tsukune said in his normal tone "you're… hurting… her…" as he dropped Moka and grabbed his head.

Moka couldn't make sense of what was going on. Either he was messing with her, or the Tsukune she knew was fighting against the ghoul.

"**Just shut up"** the ghoul spat back **"she's the reason we're dead. She's the one that took our humanity from us; why would you protect her? She's done nothing but hurt us"** as she felt his Youki spike **"she used us like a fukin' meal every damn day."**

The Youki she felt had a dark feel to it, but she could feel a lighter Youki fighting it. Tsukune was trying to protect her, even in death. The power struggle became obvious as Tsukune fought to keep his balance and the Youki increased. It began to press down on her like she was beneath something heavy; for her.

"**If you wanted to protect her"** the ghoul said with anger **"then you shoulda let Hokuto destroy the barrier instead of pouring all yer damn Youki into that fuckin' Rosario to reverse the damage. Ya had yer chance, now I'm in control"** as the Youki increased so much Moka was having issues breathing.

There was no doubt in Moka's mind any more now; this was definitely Tsukune. He had described the scenario that led to his death. Hokuto had tried to break to barrier that protected the school and expose Yokai to humans and send them into war and chaos. Tsukune had used her Rosario to repair the barrier, but at the cost of his life. He had taken his dying breaths in her arms as he tried to say something, but couldn't.

Tsukune collapsed to the ground panting. Or at least she thought it was Tsukune.

"Tsukune?" Moka asked as she tried to get up to check on him.

"**Sorry 'bout that"** the ghoul Tsukune laughed **"the baka thought he could over power me with that."**

He grabbed Moka by her hair and jerked her up so she was looking him in the eyes. To think there was once a time when he wanted her; what a waste of a thought. If she was taking this kind of a beating and couldn't even hurt him, she wasn't even strong enough for him to bother with.

"**To think"** he said gently **"there was once a time when I thought your hair was so beautiful"** as he tightened his grip on it **"now all I see it as"** with venom in his voice **"is something to throw you by"** as he launched her into a tree.

Moka smashed into the tree and felt a rib break as she spat more blood. This was almost exactly like the nightmares she's been having lately. Only this time, she knew she was awake and there was no one to save her. As she got up she saw something moving to his hair; it was white, and looked solid.

-Soifon-

The taichou was mad that Aono spoke out of turn and could've gotten into some serious trouble because of it. He had already proven that he was better than Omaeda by being able to fight him on the same level; had she not stepped in the fight really could've gone either way. She just used it as a reason to finally get rid of the lazy, rich fat ass.

Suddenly, she felt a powerful dark reiatsu that she didn't recognize; but she knew it was Hollow. With the strength that the reiatsu felt to be at, was most likely a Hollow about to become a Menos Grande. But if that were the case, why was it here and not in Hueco Mundo trying to feast on other Hollow like normal? What was here that wasn't in the Hollow realm?

The answer really didn't matter, only that she went an eliminated the creature before it killed someone.

-Tsukune-

The possessed boy stood over Moka, who was completely beaten up. Two black eyes, shattered cheek, busted ribs, and many other injuries that she didn't want to think about. Every inch of her body ached… no screamed with pain that she had never felt before. No one had ever given her this much of a beating before in her life, and she was sure that the pain showed on her face.

"**Before I kill you"** he said in a more distorted voice than before because of the mask forming on his face **"I want to know why. Why did you take my humanity from me? Why did you save me and push me away like I was nothing but an annoying pest? Why did you do the most selfish thing ever, and refuse to even try to help me through the change?"**

Now it was like her nightmares. If she was truly to die here, there was no need to try to hide the truth any more. She had to tell him and beg his forgiveness; but she knew it was too late for that. But at least she would have told him.

Moka opened her mouth to speak, but before a word left her mouth Tsukune was kicked in the head by a new person. She was dressed in a white haori and black kimono bottoms underneath it. She also had a small sword strapped to the small of her back. Moka was in complete shock and aw; the woman was smaller than her, didn't look very muscular, and yet she had sent the person that had been treating her like a ragdoll flying like it was nothing.

"Just what do you think you're doing Aono" she asked in a serious tone.

"How…" Moka started to ask but was cut off by the woman.

"None of your concern" she said without looking at the vampire "now answer me Aono."

Tsukune slowly got up, feeling a little dazed by the kick that had sent him flying. Luckily his mask had taken most of the damage and he didn't go throw any trees, but it still hurt. Blood began to trickle from his lip as he stood up and faced the person that blindsided him.

"**Take yer own words as advice"** he said as he looked at her in the eyes **"this doesn't concern you."**

Soifon's eyes widened when she saw the mask that was forming on Tsukune's head. It covered half his forehead and stretched by a thin line of mask to his jaw where it extended out a small bit and was forming an actual jaw. What only made it weirder was the fact that the black flame like tattoo that was on his neck and face was also on the mask.

"Hollow" she muttered.

"**No"** Tsukune answered **"I'm not Hollow, I'm not human, I'm not shinigami, I'm a fuckin' Ghoul thanks to that whore behind you. She injected me with her blood and corrupted by body and soul when I was alive. And if that wasn't bad enough"** as his reiatsu increased **"she kept pushing us away; all the while she kept injecting me with more and more of that filthy blood of hers. I will kill her Taichou, even if it means going through you"** as he disappeared with a static boom.

He reappeared kneeled down in front of her and bringing his fist up as he stood up. He didn't want to fight her; if anything he liked the taichou and was hoping to be able to convince his weaker self to figure more out about her. This would definitely put a damper on things; she already seemed to be the kind of person that didn't get to know people let alone let others get to know her. Now it would be even harder for that to happen. Life… afterlife sucks some times.

Soifon saw the fist coming and easily dodged it. While he had Arrancar abilities he didn't have their speed or strength. She would be able to take care of this easily before someone else had their attention drawn to the fight. She quickly went to sideswipe the side of his head again, but he ducked faster than she thought he could and was ready to land a punch in her side.

"**I'm used to someone using nothing but kicks as their attacks"** as he went to hit her **"or did I forget to mention that!"**

Soifon quickly grabbed his fist and spun to land an ax kick on his mask.

"I'm taichou of Second Division" as her kick landed solidly "I assume you forgot that" as the mask completely shattered and Tsukune was launched into the dirt and went unconscious.

She grabbed Tsukune by his waist and picked him up. Now that the mission was compromised, they had to leave. If anyone else were to know of their presence here it would be bad for them. They had drawn enough attention as it is. She pushed her sword into the air and opened the Senkaimon to leave.

"Wait" Moka shouted as she tried to get up "give him back" before she fell to the ground.

"Consider yourself lucky that I got here in time to save you" Soifon said as she stepped into the door way "otherwise you'd be dead."

"I'm…" Tsukune managed to say to the silver haired vampire "sorry" as he fell unconscious again.

Moka's eyes went wide as she fought the urge to cry. He was apologizing for something that his ghoulish nature did, when she was the one that should be apologizing to him for creating it. Even in death, he didn't hold a grudge but she knew he heard every word that his other side said.

As the door slid closed she watched Tsukune's unconscious body disappear behind the doors. He was gone, again.

"Onee-sama!" she heard Kokoa shout before she herself passed out.

-Fourth Division-

Tsukune woke up to a warm feeling around him. As he opened his eyes, he saw the golden glow of the Soten Kisshun over him. Orihime, if he remembered her name correctly, had her hands on the half dome and looked tired. She was breathing heavily and had heavy looking eyes.

"Thank you" Tsukune said as he tried to get up but couldn't.

When he looked down he saw he was restrained with some weird looking material that had rods of some sort pinning it to the ground just off the bed he was in. Why was he restrained?

"Aono-kun" Orihime said to him "are you feeling better?"

"A little," as he remembered what happened when he was at Yokai Academy.

He brutally beat a girl for something that happened when he was alive. The pale skin boy referred to himself as a Ghoul, whatever that was, and said it was because of the silver haired girl. Why would she inject him with her blood; what was the reason behind it? With what the boy said; what was he really?

"You're human Aono-kun" Orihime said as if reading his mind.

"I don't feel human" as he looked away from her.

-Sixth Division-

Byakuya sat at his desk finishing what paperwork he had for the day. Then he'd be able to go relax in the hot springs; hopefully this time there won't be a mob of women trying to get pictures of him again. While many would, and have, call him luck to have that going for him; he distasted it strongly. It showed no self control over urges that could be controlled easily; but above that, he got tired of having to carry Senbonzakura with him into the bathhouse.

"Taichou" Renji said to him "Soifon-taichou wishes to speak with you."

"Let her in" in his usual calm and collected tone.

"Hai" as he stepped aside and let her in and left; closing the door behind him.

"Kuchiki-sama" Soifon said "I wish to ask you something."

"Go ahead, Soifon-dono."

Byakuya always admired Soifon's respect to her peers and superiors. It was in contrast to a certain woman he's known since he was a child. Luckily said woman wasn't bothering him anymore and was taking pleasure in annoying Ichigo. Much to Soifon's displeasure.

"When you fought Kurosuki you said that something unusual happened" she said "but you never said what. I wish to know."

Byakuya put his brush back where he got it from and looked at the taichou of Second Division. This was not a subject he talked about, nor elaborated on because of his sister's request. It wasn't till recently that he learned that Ichigo had learned to control his hollow and even use its power in a fight when needed. But he still kept quiet about Ichigo having one.

"Aside from the fact that he used bankai when only three days prior he couldn't?" he asked; Soifon nodded. "When I was fighting him with my true bankai he became possessed by his hollow and would've killed me if he hadn't ripped the mask that was forming off."

"Was it a quick possession or slow?"

"Why do you ask these questions?" Byakuya asked back.

He was no fool; he knew when someone was trying to get information from him for their own reasons. He hated when people did that; if they'd just ask he'd tell them what they wanted to know. Now that everyone knew Ichigo had a hollow he had no reason to keep the details of his fight with him secret.

"Curious" she replied.

"You've never liked Kurosuki-san before, let alone taken any interest in him" as his eyes narrowed on her "what changed?"

"I'm not interested in Kurosuki" she replied "I only need information on his hollowfication."

"It was a quick possession" as he leaned back in his chair "one moment he was fine, the next a black Getsuga was coming at me."

"Thank you" as she bowed and started to leave.

She had the answer she needed. The possession was quick and by no means subtle; just as she had seen with Aono back at Yokai Academy.

"Why do you ask?" he asked again.

Soifon stopped in her tracks. It was normal for her to withhold information because of her duties, but Byakuya was a noble and probably the only one that she was fine with Yoruichi teasing.

"When I was on a mission" she said "something 'unusual' happened to the person that was with me."

She had intentionally used that word knowing that Byakuya would know what it meant. After all, it was the same way he had described what happened to Ichigo when he was fighting the human.

"I understand" as he went back to finishing his paperwork.

It was no lie; he did understand. He kept Ichigo's hollow a secret for a good number of months before he told anyone. It was because he was ashamed of being beaten by the human, but rather that he looked at some laws as wrong since Ichigo beat him. Had he spoken of the hollow before he learned to control it; central forty six would've ordered him to have been killed as if he was a hollow.

However, what he didn't understand was why Soifon was protecting someone. It wasn't like her.

-Tsukune-

Unohana had told him that he had been passed out for twenty four hours. Also that they had been asked by Soifon to restrain him for good measure. He knew why; if he could be possessed at random by the pale skinned boy, there was no telling when it could happen again.

He walked the same path he did when he went to Eleventh Division and bumped into Matsumoto. The memory that came with her greeting made him start thinking again. If he did go to that school and knew the girl that he had the memory of, perhaps she treated him better than the girl he… he quickly shook the memory of what he did to the vampire girl out of his head.

"How did I know she's a vampire?" he asked himself as he stopped in his tracks.

'_**Cause she's the bitch that used us'**_ the pale boy spat.

Tsukune ignored him and tried to keep moving forward, only to find he had lost his way; again. He sighed as he turned around and back tracked to a spot he recognized. Once there he looked around and saw a gate down one alley, so he went to it.

"Your order is here Kurotsuchi-sama" he heard as he got closer.

When he got to the gate he looked in and saw several caged hollows roaring at him. He quickly jumped back and fell on his ass. There was no way he was expecting that around the corner. He looked around the cage and saw the man with all the face paint on looking at a clipboard with some papers on it. He quickly looked angry.

"I asked for you to place an order for fifteen hollows" he said as he smacked his fuku-taichou "why is it I only received thirteen?"

"My deepest apologies Kurotsuchi-sama" as she bowed.

Kurotsuchi raised his hand to smack her again, only found his hand wouldn't move as he heard a static boom next to him. When he looked he saw the boy that had accompanied Soifon to the Emergency Taichou Meeting holding his wrist.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Ichigo sat in a meditative position as he synced his mind with his zanpakuto spirit. There were a few things he wanted to ask Old Man Zangetsu. One of which included why he still had his shinigami powers when he said that using Saigo no Getsuga Tensho would drain all his reiatsu. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was now in his zanpakuto's realm. The old man standing on a flag pole sticking out of a building, just like when they had first met.

"Hey Old Man" Ichigo said as he walked over to him.

"What is it Ichigo?" Zangetsu asked him as he turned around.

Ichigo's eyes widened when he saw that the spirit looked aged and tired. It was one thing to be calling the zanpakuto spirit old, but to actually be right about doing it was weird.

"Undoubtedly you wish to know why you still have your shinigami powers" Zangetsu said and Ichigo nodded "using the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho drained all three of us…"

"All three of us?" in shock as he looked around and saw his hollow half asleep on a window ledge.

"I convinced him that using more of his power than ours was in his best interest" Zangetsu said "had your shinigami powers vanished, he would've ceased to exist and wouldn't be able to fight anyone or anything. Make no mistake though, we still used a massive amount of our own power to use the attack; he just put more of his in it to allow you to keep your shinigami powers."

Ichigo walked over to his hollow, it was weird seeing him so tired; especially when the guy used to be so full of life and ready to fight anyone. It was a little concerning, but at the same time relieving. Now it would be easier to control him.

"**I'm insulted king"** he said in a weak laugh **"after all, I'm the one that helped ya beat Grimmjow."**

"I'm sorry" Ichigo said to his hollow side "I didn't mean to insult you. I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to use more of your power so I could stay as a shinigami."

"**Ya wanna thank me"** with a perverse grin **"bang that Orihime chick for me."**

Ichigo felt a vein somewhere in his body pop. He was trying to be nice to his hollow side and he was making jokes about having sex with someone he looks at as his best friend; a sister even.

"**I wasn't joking;"** he laughed **"ya know she wants it. I know ya want it to; why else would you risk everything to save her? Or are ya too blind to see her feelings for ya. Can't believe yer king"** he sighed **"if I was king I'd give it to her good. Man, just thinkin' bout how nicely that Espada outfit hugged her curves gives me a hard on. Wide hips, large breasts, thin stomach, and legs that look nicely toned; damn what any guy wouldn't give to go a round with that."**

"DON'T TALK ABOUT ORIHIME LIKE SHE'S SOME PIECE OF MEAT" he shouted at his hollow.

"**Just think bout it"** as he fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Before I continue the story, I would like to give an Author's Note. Please pay attention to the Shinigami Cups because they are just side stories that will have affects on characters later on. Also, if you have questions please feel free to ask them in your review and I will pm the answer to you or make a Q-A section for the ones that seem to be really important.  
Thanks,  
Demon

NOW LET THE STORY CONTINUE!

Xxx

When Tsukune got to the gate he looked in and saw several caged hollows roaring at him. He quickly jumped back and fell on his ass. There was no way he was expecting that around the corner. He looked around the cage and saw the man with all the face paint on looking at a clipboard with some papers on it. He quickly looked angry.

"I asked for you to place an order for fifteen hollows" he said as he smacked his fuku-taichou "why is it I only received thirteen?"

"My deepest apologies Kurotsuchi-sama" as she bowed.

Kurotsuchi raised his hand to smack her again, only found his hand wouldn't move as he heard a static boom next to him. When he looked he saw the boy that had accompanied Soifon to the Emergency Taichou Meeting holding his wrist.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"You shouldn't smack a woman" Tsukune answered as he flared his reiatsu.

The taichou only smirked; the boy's reiatsu wasn't even a seated officer's level.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" as he pulled his hand out of the boy's grasp.

While it wasn't anything for him to truly concern himself with, he was still a superior to the boy and being threatened like that was not something that was allowed. If subordinates threatened taichou all the time there would be no need for the rank; so rules were in place to handle those that did. Rules that would allow him to punish the boy as he sees fit.

Tsukune's answer was him grabbing the hilt of his zanpakuto. He might not know the woman that the taichou had smacked, but he knew that it was wrong to smack a subordinate; let alone a woman.

"You're really not worth my time" Kurotsuchi said as he turned back to his fuku-taichou "I'll deal with you later."

"No you won't" Tsukune said in a firm tone "what kind of taichou smacks their subordinates around?"

Kurotsuchi sighed; he was having to deal with another person like that Quincy. Only this time it was a shinigami; nothing was more annoying than someone you'd more than likely see one a regular bases threaten you.

"I'll tell you like I told that Quincy" he sighed as he waved his hand through the air "she's not an actual person. I created her, so I'm free to do with her as I like. She's merely a pseudo-daughter; nothing more than gigai and mod-soul technology combined into one entity."

Nemu looked down to the ground. While she didn't feel it was her place to voice the fact that she doesn't like being referred to as a false being; it did hurt every now and then.

"She's standing right in front of you" Tsukune said "how can you say she's not an actual person? And if she's your daughter then that means you truly shouldn't smack her" as he tightened his grip on his sword.

Tsukune vanished with sonido and appeared between the taichou and his fuku-taichou with his sword mid-swing. He didn't care if he wasn't as strong as the taichou, he didn't want the woman that was now behind him to be treated so badly. While he was angry, that wasn't what made him attack the taichou; it was the fact that if he didn't stand up to him Nemu would continue to get smacked around.

Kurotsuchi easily blocked the boy's attack by lifting his zanpakuto out of the scabbard. The sound of metal smashing into metal rang through the large court yard as he sighed lazily. _'Just like that damned Quincy'_ he thought as he pushed the boy's blade away from him.

"If you leave now" Kurotsuchi offered "I won't use you in experiments after I beat you;" Tsukune looked confused "please," he laughed "don't think I don't know an Arrancar ability when I see one. What you used was sonido. No shinigami can use it; well" as he realized the inaccuracy of his statement "you're the only shinigami that can use it. I'm curious as to how. If you insist on fighting," as his voice turned serious "I'll figure out how by doing experiments on you."

All the taichou would have to do is release Shikai and cut him once to end the fight; that simple. It would also mean a possibly boring fight that could be tiring as well. However it would be worth it, he wanted to do experiments on the boy to figure out how he used the Arrancar ability.

Tsukune really didn't care what happened to him; as long as he was protecting someone he wouldn't back down. He pulled his sword away from the taichou's and readied himself for a fight. There was no way he'd let the taichou continue to smack the woman behind him around; especially if it was the taichou's daughter.

He dug his feet into the ground just before he attacked again. He knew enough about swordsmanship to fight someone else with one. Just not enough so that it was all instinct. His zanpakuto clanged against the metal of the tiachou's; the taichou had lazily blocked his attack like it was nothing. He still had a lot to learn to be able to actually fight on par with a taichou, let alone beat one. He quickly recovered from the attack and attacked again; only to be blocked, again.

Kurotsuchi was nowhere near impressed with the boy's abilities; the only thing he wanted to know was how he had used sonido. And now he could find out. The boy insisted on continuing attacking when it was obvious that it was futile. He was fighting like an idiot; only using frontal attacks rather than trying to get behind him. The fight was going to be just as boring as he had thought it would be; or so he thought.

Tsukune used sonido and got behind the taichou coming down for an attack. While he wasn't sure if the man could move, or block, in time he really didn't care. If the man moved, so would he; if he blocked, he'd follow through with another attack. Suddenly his zanpakuto hit the taichou's, who sighed.

"Too predictable" with a bored tone.

Tsukune leaned forward and let his weight continue to move as he braced himself for pain in his foot. He spun over the taichou's blade and landed a solid ax kick to the taichou's face and knocked him back a few meters. The pain wasn't as bad as he was expecting, but he really couldn't say the same for the taichou; who looked like his nose was broken.

"Teme" he growled as he realigned the cartilage in his nose.

He had forgotten that the boy was acting as Soifon's fuku-taichou for the Emergency Taichou Meeting. Plus even if he did remember, it wouldn't have meant anything to him; until now. Now he understood why Soifon asked the boy to stand in. He fought like a member of Second Division.

Then he noticed the boy was breathing heavy. It was clear that he didn't have the stamina of a normal member of Second Division, and this worked to his advantage. If he was breathing heavy, he'd take in more of the air around him…

"Rip, Ashisogi Jizo" as the blade turned into a curved trident like weapon with the middle blade longer and straighter than the outer two.

Tsukune didn't wait for the mouth to open before he managed to get under the taichou's defense and cut into his side. He did notice the gas coming from the guard of the taichou's zanpakuto until he spun around and went to cut him again, but was blocked. The gas began to surround the two fighting and slowly spread outwards towards the crowd that had gathered and was watching the two. They quickly began to back up; none of them wanted to know what new poison the taichou had stored in his zanpakuto.

"You're finished boy" Kurotsuchi laughed "you're breathing in my latest poison. I wonder what symptoms you'll have from it;" as he waited for Tsukune's body to react to the poison. Tsukune continued to breathe normally. "What's going on?" he asked with an agitated tone "why aren't you coughing up blood?" as he pushed Tsukune back "if Jizo let loose the wrong poison I'll punish him" as he glared at his zanpakuto.

He heard those around them start coughing and panicking as they saw blood. This was a good sign for his zanpakuto; it meant that he wouldn't have to do anything to it, again. But it still left the question as to why the boy wasn't affected by the gas.

"I'd ask you again" as he disappeared with Shunpo "but experiments are much more fun" Tsukune heard behind him before he felt a blade get slashed across his back.

Tsukune feel to the ground from the pain of having the blade slashed across his back. He went to get back up, but couldn't. Something was keeping him from moving his body. He still had his zanpakuto in his hand, but it was useless if he couldn't move.

"I'll get back to you once I'm done with Nemu" as he heard the taichou walk away from him "and don't even try to get back up. Ashisogi Jizo's ability isn't just being able to spew poison from the guard, but when it cuts someone in this form it severs the neural impulses from the brain that control muscles. Meaning that it paralysis's whomever gets cut by it."

He failed. The taichou was too strong for him to defeat and was now going to be used in some sort of experiments. He was angry with himself for not being able to stop the taichou; he was afraid… afraid of what would happen to the woman the taichou had called Nemu, and himself. His grip tightened on his zanpakuto.

"_Why are you afraid?"_ he heard his zanpakuto spirit ask him as his vision shifted to the world that resembled the academy he went to again.

"I'm not strong enough" he said sadly "I couldn't kill the Hollow that was trying to kill the shinigami, I couldn't control the pale skinned guy, and I couldn't protect the fuku-taichou from her taichou."

"That does not answer my question" she said "your strength does not come from fighting for yourself. I thought you realized this;" as she looked at Tsukune who was on the ground like he was in the real world "just because you are not strong enough does not mean you should be afraid. Fear is meaningless unless you fear your own power."

"But I can't even move" as his grip tightened even more "his zanpakuto made it so I can't…"

"Your grip just tightened" she said "if you can move your hand then you can move the rest of your body. Your resolve is stronger than this," as she moved aside and showed Tsukune the pale skinned boy, who was in extremely bad shape "had it not been for Soifon-taichou he would've killed that girl because you lacked the will to stop him; just as you lack the will to move your body now. You have stood against others that were far stronger than yourself once before. While you were afraid, you set your fear aside to protect others. Do not just set it aside, cast it, get rid of it" as her voice turned more and more serious with each word "it will weaken your resolve."

Tsukune slowly pulled his zanpakuto closer to him; deep down he knew she was right. If he could tighten his grip on the hilt, he could move the rest of his body. He was stronger than this.

"It is not your physical strength that has allowed you to stand victorious in the past. It was the strength of your will; your resolve. That which allowed you to get back up after _any_ injury you acquired in combat" she continued "when you attacked your opponent, you inflicted pain. When you blocked, you did not let harm fall onto you. And when you fought, you were not afraid of you would fail to protect the ones you fought for. Now look at you," as she started to walk away "so full of fear that you cannot even stand after a small cut across the back. Maybe I should just let him take over you;" Tsukune's eyes widened "he is not afraid of fighting."

"**Finally"** he winced as he got up **"once I have control again"** as he started running towards Tsukune **"I'm gonna go kill that whore that took our humanity!"** as he jumped towards him.

He was still able to get up and attack him in such bad shape. It was clear that his resolve was more than strong enough. He knew what he wanted, and he would do anything to get it. As long as he had his revenge he didn't care if he was killed afterwards.

"No," Tsukune said as he began to stand up by supporting himself with his sword "you won't!" as he swung his sword and cut the boy along one of the scars underneath his kimono.

"See" she said to him "your resolve is stronger than you thought. Now face your opponent…"

In the real world, Kurotsuchi heard the sound of metal scrapping against the ground as he felt a powerful reiatsu. He turned around to see the boy he had incapacitated slowly getting back up. But that was impossible; Ashisogi Jizo had severed the neural connecters in his body. He should only be able to breathe, talk and have his heart pulse enough to leave him alive. He quickly went to make another cut to see if that would work.

'_When you dodge, don't get hit'_ the woman said to him as he used sonido to move.

The taichou reacted fast enough to dodge Tsukune's zanpakuto that was being swung at him from the side. There was something different about the boy now. He was faster, stronger, reacting more instinctual. What made it worse was the fact that he still wasn't being affected by his poison like everyone else was.

'_When you attack, cut'_ she said as Tsukune got behind Kurotsuchi so fast not even the taichou had enough time to dodge the blade coming at him _'and when you protect someone…'_

"I won't fail to protect that person" as he kicked the taichou's side and knocked him to the ground.

Tsukune spun his zanpakuto around and held it in a more defensive posture.

'_Can you hear my name now'_ the woman asked him _'it's…'_

"Drink;" as his reiatsu increased even more "BLOODRIVER!"

Dust was kicked up around him. When the dust settled, the taichou was standing up and could see the boy's Shikai. The hilt was solid black with a rounded end to it; the guard looked to be a part of the hilt and curved upwards with what looked like a fang sticking out towards the hilt. The blade was something else entirely; for starters it was blood red, it was a little wide at the hilt, but narrowed out towards the middle and slowly got larger till it came to the end in a point. There were several saw like teeth along the edges of the two sided blade.

That wasn't the only thing that was different either. On Tsukune's shins were white greaves with small spikes on them. They were simple in shape but not the design engraved onto them. It looked like a bunch of symbols were carved into them. Plus, on his left hand was a gauntlet that was white in color and had gold edging at each of the joints.

"That's enough" they heard as a cane struck the ground.

Tsukune and Kurotsuchi turned towards the voice to see none other than Yamamoto. His eyes were cracked open and starring at the two; something he only did when he was extremely angry. While he was glad to see someone finally step up for the fuku-taichou, he was pissed that the boy had disgraced the shinigami uniform by acting as he did. Attacking a taichou was not something that was taken lightly.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou" Yamamoto said "explain how this altercation began."

He knew full well how it began. He was on his walks and heard Aono speak firmly against the experiment obsessed taichou. The way the boy spoke, he sounded like a paladin; even his Shikai suggested that. The armor on his shins and left arm were proof enough. He also watched the entire fight. The boy was full of surprises; using sonido, keeping up with a taichou, powerful reiatsu, and unlocking Shikai. Just full of surprises.

-Yokai Academy-

Kokoa sat outside the room waiting for news of her sister's condition. She had _never_ seen her Onee-sama in such bad shape before. It struck fear in her of whoever did this could still be out there waiting to strike again. And to be able to beat Moka, the person had to be extremely powerful. Moka had spent five hours in surgery; even with her being a vampire, there would've been permanent damage had they not operated immediately.

Deep down she knew that the boy she had seen yesterday was responsible for what happened to her sister. It was the noise he made when he moved as fast as he did. It had to be that boy because he's the one that Moka chased after; she wanted to kill him. Only problem was, he had completely disappeared; not a single trace was left of him on campus. The only thing that was left was the physical damage done to Moka, and Kokoa's memory.

"Shuzen-san" the doctor said to her "you can see her now."

Kokoa quickly pushed pass the doctor and saw her sister. There were stitches on her cheek, her entire torso was wrapped up tight, both feet were in a boot from fractures in them, and there was even more on Moka's insides. Several organs had been damaged, a few arteries needed to be patched up and a lung had been punctured by a rib.

"Onee-sama" she asked "who did this?"

Moka only looked at her sister to see the anger in her eyes. She knew her sister well enough to know that she wasn't going to let this go; at least not for the person that did it to her. While the odds of Tsukune returning were slim, the odds of her sister finding out it was Tsukune that did this were not so slim. She knew what the boy looked like; hell she had even injured him when he was saving her from an unknown creature. That was proof enough that it was Tsukune and not the ghoul side of him that she saw.

"I did" in a sad tone as she looked away "I'm the reason this happened to me" as she felt a tear run down her cheek.

By injecting Tsukune with her blood she had given him every poison possible. It made him weak, tired, hungry, thirsty, and much more. Yet she kept pushing him away instead of helping him through it. It only got worse after the first injection; students kept coming after him by going after her and he kept protecting her from them. Becoming so injured that she would have no choice but to inject him with more blood to save him… save him. That was an oxymoron; it was her blood that was killing him. If it weren't for him dying from Youki depletion she was sure her blood would've killed him.

He made a point in her constantly pushing him away. By doing that, she only made things worse in the long run. Now Tsukune was out there somewhere with the ghoul trying to take over again so he could come back and finish killing her. It was clear that Tsukune wasn't strong enough to keep the evil within him under control; let alone suppress it. She was the reason he was still suffering; and she felt she had to make up for it somehow.

-Yamamoto's office-

The old sou-taichou was currently reading the report from Soifon on their recon mission to the 'Yokai Academy'. It seemed that the place was dense enough in spiritual energy that they could be seen. This was stated along with the fact that the mission had to be cut short because of Aono blowing their cover. This was to be expected of someone that hasn't gone to the Shinigami Academy yet. Soifon even had to place the mission on hold to save Aono from a fight. This was unusual; she always placed the mission above everything else, even her own safety. It was nice to see a change in her.

However, there was one thing that wasn't sitting well in his old bones. There was a hollow still there that was about to turn into a Menos Grande. If a hollow of that level were to attack the place, it would be devastating. There would be no telling how many causalities there would be. Something had to be done; a team would have to be sent to the academy as undercover agents to patrol the area and once the hollow was exterminated send a regular patrol to keep anymore hollows from showing up.

"Who to send though" as he stepped onto the balcony attached to his office.

-Tsukune-

He couldn't get that girl out of his head. Her silver hair and red eyes were entrancing. Even though the pale skinned boy Ghoul, as he referred to himself as, was beating the daylights out of her; she spoke like she knew him. She knew his name, and even claimed that he died in her arms. He wanted to go back and talk to her, but he knew if he did not only would Soifon beat him into the ground when he got back; but Ghoul would try to take control again and harm her.

"Aono" the sensei said.

Tsukune snapped out of his daydream when he heard the sensei call his name. Classes had started this morning, a day after his fight with Kurotsuchi-taichou. Luckily Soifon didn't punish him for blowing their cover while at Yokai Academy; she said that the kick she landed while fighting Ghoul was enough punishment. He was currently sitting in an intro level class for zanpakuto; and he hadn't heard a word of the lecture so far.

"Since you seem to be paying so much attention" she continued "you can explain the basic concept of a zanpakuto to the class."

"Uh…" as he tried to remember anything that he might have heard the sensei say "a zanpakuto is the only thing that can purify a hollow, each one is unique to an individual person" remembering what Soifon and Kenpachi had told him "and… that's all I remember" as he hung his head low.

"That is the basic concept of a zanpakuto Aono" the sensei said as she dragged her hand down her face before she turned back to the blackboard behind her "each zanpakuto is unique to each individual wielder. No two shinigami have the same zanpakuto spirit…" she continued "and contrary to popular belief; not all zanpakuto are mere splits of their personality. A very select few were once living creatures that were pure enough to become a zanpakuto spirit" right at that moment the bell rang "class dismissed."

Tsukune put his books in the sling like backpack he was given last night as he moved into his room. Somehow he the room to himself; where as everyone else had a roommate of some sort. He was also given the male uniform for the students; blue kimono bottoms with a white top that had the school symbol over each side of his chest. It didn't feel too much different than wearing what he was given a few days ago by Unohana and Soifon.

Tsukune grabbed Bloodriver and walked towards the door. One thing that Zaraki-taichou had told him before he went to get settled into his room at the academy was to always carry his zanpakuto with him. Because it couldn't be replaced if it was stolen or lost; it wasn't like the 'shity trainin' crap', as Kenpachi put it, they hand out at the academy.

His next class was shunpo, something he knew he was going to fail because he could use sonido and not shunpo. It was not going to be easy to explain how he was able to use an Arrancar ability; he has no idea himself.

"Aono" the sensei said "why are you carrying the zanpakuto you were given last night? And what have you done to it?"

The sensei handed them out herself; making sure to have the same number of zanpakuto in each room as there were students in the room. The design that his zanpakuto had was not the standard design for the generic blades she handed out.

"This is my zanpakuto" he answered with a confused tone "if she's stolen or lost I can't replace her… please excuse me, I need to get to my next class" as he walked out the door.

"Why is he in my class?" she asked herself as the door slid closed.

Tsukune hurried to his next class, but unfortunately it was on the other side of the academy. If he didn't hurry he'd be late. So he decided to use sonido and at least get to the opposite side of the academy and then look for the classroom. When he arrived at the other side of the academy he appeared next to a large group of students standing around talking; each one of them jumped from the static boom sound he made when he appeared.

He didn't wait to let them ask questions, he started running in the direction that the room numbers showed his class was going to be at. He felt lucky to have appeared near the right classroom. Had he not, he more than likely would've been late. He slid the door open and walked in to see Grimmjow standing next to the sensei.

"Grimmjow-san?" he said in a confused tone.

"Aono" he said as he walked towards the door "let's go. I'm teachin' ya so don't bother with this class."

Tsukune didn't question the Arrancar as he stepped aside and let Grimmjow led him to where ever it was he was going to teach him. The class was muttering amongst themselves trying to figure out why he was going to be taught by an Arrancar. Only they couldn't come up with any answers.

-Later-

Tsukune put his bag on his desk, and gently leaned his zanpakuto against his bed. His body was a little sore from Grimmjow's 'lesson'. It didn't help that he had kendo class right after his personal sonido class. The sensei kept fusing at him with how he held the wooden weapon. He was used to holding it with one hand, only using two when he had to, and the sensei was lecturing about how to properly hold a zanpakuto.

When other students found out he had his zanpakuto already they wanted to fight him. He insisted on not fighting but they kept trying to push him; eventually the sensei ordered a match between Tsukune and another student. The other student lost, even with Tsukune using only one hand, and had a nasty bruise on his chest. Tsukune apologized as he helped the student get to the sides and asked if he was alright.

"HI CHOCOLATE-HAIR" he heard from his bed as Yachiru jumped onto his shoulder.

"Yachiru-chan" Tsukune said as his heart slowed back to its normal rate "what are you doing here?"

"There's nutin going on back with Ken-chan" she said with a frown "and Bya-kun had the tunnels I made filled in. So I figured I'd come visit you!" as she smiled.

"Well" as he thought "dinner's in a little while so we can go eat if you want."

He was really hoping she'd want to. His stomach was on the verge of growling right now. Plus he was sore from the long day that was mostly training for him; thanks to the three hour shunpo/sonido class and another three hours for kendo class. Both of which was none stop.

"Yay!" she cheered "food!"

Tsukune grabbed Bloodriver, walked to his door and left, locking it behind him. Yachiru was still cheering at the thought of the meal that was to come while hanging onto his left shoulder like she does Kenpachi. She quickly found it to her liking.

-One Week Later-

Tsukune was sitting in his intro level zanpakuto class actually paying attention now; even though he still had random flashes of memory of the silver haired girl that Ghoul refused to tell him the name of. But he told him the name of the other girls he saw; Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari, and Ruby. The names sounded so familiar to him; they must have been friends.

"Aono" the sensei said as a Hell Butterfly flew into the class and over to her "Yamamoto-sou-taichou wants you in his office immediately."

"Hai" as he quickly put everything away and grabbed Bloodriver on his way to the door.

Ghoul was still recovering from his beating from Bloodriver as well as the cut he got from Tsukune. Physically he was too weak to try to bother with taking over, but if they ever went back to Yokai Academy he would be damned if he didn't kill the vampiress; technically he already was damned.

He would heal faster if his neighbor would give him more herbs like she did before. But she said that this time her actions were justified and she had no reason to supply him with means of a speedy recovery. It annoyed him that she wouldn't just let him have his revenge and then kill him. She was protecting _her_ for some reason.

As soon as Tsukune closed the door, he used sonido to get to the Gates of the Academy and check himself out from the roster for accountability reasons. Once he was done with that he quickly took off towards Yamamoto's office. He remembered important features from his trip to the Emergency Taichou Meeting a week and a half ago. It wasn't too hard to mess up, the large building next to the tower was First Division's headquarters; Yamamoto's division. He just needed to be quick.

-Yamamoto's office-

The sou-taichou watched with amusement as Yachiru ate some of the candy he had given her. The small fuku-taichou always seemed to liven the air around her at times; as well as make things interesting. Even with her enormous reiatsu she still had the body of a child; it wasn't too surprising though, she was only a hundred years old by his count.

The old man couldn't help but to wonder what his life would've been like if he had married and had kids. He probably would've turned out like Isshin, who was showing off pictures of his beautiful girls. It made him happy to know that he had grandchildren, in a since, from one of his students. After all, the man was one of the first to graduate from the Shinigami Academy along with Shunshui and Jushiro; all three of them became taichou quickly after he founded the Gotei Thirteen. He remembered how often he bragged about them.

"Gramps" Yachiru asked him "is there more candy?" with puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Yachiru-chan" as he rubbed her head "that was the last of it."

He often thought it was cute how she called him Gramps. It made him feel like an actual grandfather, and he'd proudly brag about the little pink haired girl. She was cheerful, energetic and carefree; while she had no sense of direction, she made up for it with how cute she was. And according to Byakuya, she was a master of infiltration; he had told him about the tunnels he had to fill in as well as the secret room she had built and the pool in his backyard. He even had some of the workers looking for anything else she could've added to the manor…

"Ohh…" in a sad tone.

"Don't worry Yachiru" Matsumoto said to her "we're getting deployed to the living world so we can get you more."

"YAY!"

Not only was she happy that she was going to get more candy; but she was finally going to get to go to the living world. Biggest Boobies, as she called Matsumoto, often told her about entire shops that were full of the sugary treats. She wanted to go to such a shop and buy it out; she'd be set for at least a month with that much candy. Hopefully they'd have the candy that Matsumoto gave her that were sour at first but turned sweet; lately she's been craving them pretty badly.

"So who are we waitin' on?" Grimmjow ask from where he was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"We're waiting on Aono" Soifon said bluntly.

She still didn't like the Arrancar at all. He was just as disrespectful as Kurosuki but more battle hungry. He was more than often the first one to show up to a hollow sighting looking for a fight with the creatures. Why Nel left him behind was not a mystery to Soifon; but she did wish that the female Arrancar would've taken him with to Hueco Mundo instead of Kurosuki and Orihime. If she wanted Kurosuki to trade places with the panther Arrancar it had to be bad.

'_Why does Yamamoto-sama want him to go with?'_ she asked herself.

"I thought someone couldn't be pulled from the academy" Matsumoto said as she looked at the taichou.

"That would be the case if Aono didn't know more about the place than the rest of you" Yamamoto said in his usual tone "and precautions will be taken so that the one that he exposed himself to won't be able to identify him again."

Grimmjow snickered. What the sou-taichou said couldn't be taken out of context at all… He noticed that he wasn't the only one that thought the same thing; the busty fuku-taichou had a smile on her face too.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou is making his gigai without the physical scars that Aono has" Yamamoto continued "and he will be given an alias. That is the name you will call him by while at this Yokai Academy" as he gave a stern look at the group.

The door to his office swung open as his taichou walked in with Aono behind him.

"You wanted to see me Yamamoto-sou-taichou?" he said in a respectful tone.

"Hai" he began the briefing "you, Soifon-taichou, Matsumoto-fuku-taichou, Yachiru-fuku-taichou, and Jagerjaquez-san will be deployed to Yokai Academy. Your mission is to find and eliminate the Hollow that Soifon-taichou detected before she saved you from a fight with one of the inhabitants. While you are there" as Tsukune listened carefully "Soifon-taichou and Jagerjaquez-san will act as sensei; Matsumoto-fuku-taichou, Yachiru-fuku-taichou, and yourself will pose as students."

"May I ask something Yamamoto-sama?" Tsukune spoke.

"Hai."

"What about the Shinigami Academy; I'm still learning there."

"That is why the others are going with you" Yamamoto explained "Soifon-taichou is head of Onmitsukido and will be teaching you hand-to-hand combat. Matsumoto-fuku-taichou will teach you the basics of Kido. Jagerjaquez-san will continue teaching you sonido as well as any other Arrancar abilities you have. Yachiru-fuku-taichou will be on her first deployment so she will be learning just as you will be."

"Yamamoto-sou-taichou" his fuku-taichou said "Kurotsuchi-taichou is here with their gigai and equipment."

"Show him in."

The fuku-taichou opened the door wide enough for the table to be wheeled in by Nemu with Kurotsuchi leading the way. The table was massive, at least thirty feet long and ten feet wide. The contents on the table were covered with a massive cloth.

"The gigai and equipment you requested Yamamoto-sou-taichou" he said as he pulled the cover back revealing the items in question.

There were five 'bodies' lying on the table, fully clothed in the uniform that Soifon had described in her report. There were soul phones next to each that had been modified so that they could be detect hollow in the new area. As well as necklaces with different pendants for each person. There was a soul candy dispenser next to everyone's gigai except Tsukune's who had a soul badge next to it; Kurotsuchi decided to screw Tsukune over by not providing him with soul candy.

"I'll start with the modifications I made to the soul phones" he began "it took a little tinkering but now they will detect hollow in the area as well as let you know their reiatsu level so you know how serious the threat will be" as he flipped one open "I tried to personalize each one to keep supposition down."

Yachiru looked at one that was covered in anime stickers; she quickly knew it was hers as she grabbed it and started playing with it. Matsumoto's was pink and had a shopping bag design on the front. Soifon's had the Onmitsukido symbol on the front; Grimmjow's had a panther on it. Tsukune's was plain black with a skull on the front.

"Next is the necklaces" as he lifted a pendant "they are made of simple metal with a piece of sekkiseki stone in it to keep your reiatsu from being detected by any of the inhabitants of this place."

Matsumoto's was a 'diamond' necklace; Yachiru's was a rose flower that looked to have the stem leading to the actual necklace. Soifon's was a black cat that looked like Yoruichi. Grimmjow's was an Espada symbol. Tsukune's was a simple cross.

"Since this is the first time Yachiru, Jagerjaquez and Aono are being deployed they need to know about soul candy" as he picked one of the dispensers up "it's simple, you push the top and a soul candy comes out. You swallow it and your spiritual body will be forced out of the gigai allowing you to fight with all your abilities.

Next is the actual gigai" as he looked at them "I modified them so that your abilities won't be hampered in any way; except that they will be a little toned down. They will also keep your reiatsu from being detected should you lose your necklace."

"What's this?" Tsukune asked as he pointed at the soul badge.

"That is yours" the taichou said with a smirk "much like the soul candy it will force your spiritual body out of the gigai when you place it on any point of your body. However there won't be an artificial soul to fill it while you're out of the gigai."

Tsukune looked at his gigai and couldn't help but to feel like he was going back to the past. The uniform looked like it belonged on him; if he went to that school when he was alive, then it would make sense. Maybe he could find the answers to the questions he had about his past.

"This mission is crucial to the safety of the living beings of Yokai Academy" Yamamoto said "failure is not an option. Find the Hollow and eliminate it. And do not blow your cover" looking at Aono in particular.

"Hai" the said in sync.

"Before you go" he said looking at Aono "your alias will be Kenpachi Eiyu1."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Zanpakuto Lesson: hosted by Mayuri Kurotsuchi…

"As mentioned today" as he clicked a button and a screen turned on "not all zanpakuto are mere off shoots of the wielders personality. A very rare few used to be living beings that, through their actions, were *pure* enough to become zanpakuto spirits; the only confirmed case of this I have found is Arabai-fuku-taichou's zanpakuto; Zabimaru."

Renji and Zabimaru walked in to see the woman on the screen.

"You were once a living being?" Renji asked in confusion as he looked at Zabimaru.

"Yeah" Hebi said as he picked some wax out of his ear "you'd know that if you'd ask us about ourself more often."

Saru just looked at Renji with a straight face and didn't say anything. She was insulted that her wielder didn't bother to ask if they were once alive or not. If he would focus on training more than doing that stupid paperwork he'd be stronger and maybe he would've asked them.

"So what did you do that allowed you to become a zanpakuto spirit?"

Hebi and Saru looked at each other and then back to Renji.

"We stopped a rebellion that would've destroyed most of the population on earth" as they started to walk away.

"Go on" Kurotsuchi said as he wrote down notes.

Renji and Zabimaru glared at the taichou.

"What? Like I said, zanpakuto spirits that were once living beings are rare" as he looked at the three "I'm resisting the urge to use Jizo to immobilize you so I can do experiments by taking notes. Unless" as he slowly drew the zanpakuto in question "you'd prefer that?"

"NO!" all three shouted.

-Author's Note-

1) Japanese for Paladin.


	6. Chapter 6

Questions and Answers]

NightmareSyndrom:  
Q: What about Toshiro's zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru? Wasn't it a major plot point of one of the movies that someone else had the same zanpakuto spirit as him?  
A: If I understand your question correctly, you are asking about the lecture that I had the sensei give when she said that each zanpakuto is unique to the wielder. While you are correct in the sense that it does happen, it was merely an intro level lecture so of course she won't mention it because it is a rare thing.

Comments)  
Of course he's going back into the lion's den; otherwise there would be no point to the plot of the story. As for his bankai, I don't have any plans on having him achieve it; simply because Tsukune won't have a chance to. I probably could've broken that last chapter down into two chapters but decided against it because I know that there are a few of you that want to get to the juicy bits. Also, did anyone notice the oxymoron for an alias Yamamoto gave him?

As far as grammar errors, I am sorry. I tend to miss things when I'm typing; and even when I read back over everything. But I don't have a Beta Reader to help me with these things so please bare with me on them.

On with the story,  
Demon.

Xxxx

Tsukune was in his room back at the academy packing everything up. He was now a temporary full shinigami for his deployment, but he was still going to be learning the skills necessary to be a full time shinigami. While he wanted to go back to the Yokai Academy to look for answers about his past, he didn't because of Ghoul; he knew what he would do. He'd look for the silver haired girl and try to kill her again.

He wasn't sure he'd be able to look the girl in the eyes if he ever saw her again. After what he did to her, he'd understand if she hated him. He wasn't strong enough to regain control and stop Ghoul from harming her. She couldn't even defend herself from Ghoul. It took Soifon to knock him out. If it happened again it could end up taking more than that to stop him the next time; it was concerning for him.

Luckily Ghoul was injured pretty badly and couldn't try anything for a while. That means he has some time to get strong enough to suppress him on his own rather than have Bloodriver do it for him; the only problem was he didn't know how much time. If he could get strong enough to suppress the boy, he wouldn't need to worry about losing himself to the hunger and thirst he keeps feeling. It wasn't too bad, it only got extremely bad when Ghoul tries to take over him; he was learning to control it though.

He put the last of his clothes into his bags and headed for the door. It was weird for him to suddenly leave for deployment; especially when he was doing so well in all his classes. But he had his orders and they came from Yamamoto himself. Now he was saying goodbye to the Shinigami Academy and hello to Yokai Academy. He'd finally be able to answer the questions he has about his past.

"Ya ready?" Grimmjow asked him as he closed the door and locked it.

"Hai" as he turned around and looked at his mentor "Grimmjow-san."

"Then let's get to the meeting point" he sighed as he stuck his hands in his pockets and started walking away "I don't want that woman fusin' at me."

Grimmjow and Soifon didn't get along at all. She was one that always followed orders to the letter, and he was one that looked at orders loosely. However, they did have similar training styles. Soifon had showed up one day to his Kendo class and 'showed' them how to fight without a zanpakuto. She had each one of them step into the metaphorical ring with her and go a round. Tsukune lasted the longest out of all of them; rather than being put on his ass after the first attack, he took the hit and managed to be able to attempt to attack her.

After Tsukune signed out of the academy they used sonido to head to the Senkaimon to meet up with Soifon and the other two. There wasn't a doubt in Tsukune's mind that Zaraki-taichou would see Yachiru off. They seemed to be really close. Once they arrived, Tsukune saw he wasn't wrong; Kenpachi was standing near the group with Yachiru clinging to his left shoulder as usual.

"We're here" Grimmjow said as he walked over to the group.

"Chocolate-hair" Yachiru cheered as she jumped from Kenpachi's shoulder to Tsukune's.

"Have you decided what Yokai to claim to be while we're there?" Soifon asked him.

Tsukune looked down to the ground sheepishly; he hadn't done any research to see which one he could call himself. He was more focused on getting all his stuff packed so he could get here as quickly as possible. He was about to open his mouth to say something like werewolf but Grimmjow spoke up.

"Fraccion" the Arrancar said.

Everyone just looked at the panther with a confused look. That was a title; not a known species of Yokai.

"He asked me for help learnin' sonido" Grimmjow said "so that makes him my Fraccion. If those Yokai don't know what one is they can't try to call him out on it."

"I guess that makes sense" Matsumoto said as she thought about it.

Everyone else had picked a known species of Yokai. Matsumoto decided on being a succubus; mainly because of the size of her boobs. Soifon decided to be a Yasha (a female demon). Grimmjow was a panther demon. Yachiru was a fairy; she insisted on being something cute. If Tsukune went as an unknown species that would make it easy for him to keep his cover from being blown. Mainly because he could easily write off his abilities as that of the species and no one would question it. It was perfect.

"Let's get moving" Soifon said as the gate opened.

-Yokai Academy-

Moka walked through the court yard after finally being released from the infirmary after a week. She didn't expect it to take so long for her to heal; then again, she didn't expect Tsukune to do those things to her. Her pride had been utterly destroyed by the ghoul side of Tsukune and she now _had_ to find a way to find Tsukune again so she could finally apologize to him for everything. Once she did that, and if he forgave her, she would finally tell him how she felt about him; the skeleton in her closet that she never told anyone.

Word had spread through the school about what happened to her and many were scared of who it could've been. The timing couldn't have been any worse either; lately there have been masked creatures with holes in their chests attacking the school. Luckily no one has been hurt so far, but still; it made everything around here that much worse. Hopefully though, no one would get hurt before they found a way to take care of all the masked beasts.

Kokoa had been training ever since her sister had been hurt so badly and swore to find the one that did it. Moka had tried to talk her younger sister out of it, but she was too hard headed. She didn't understand that if Moka couldn't take the person, then there was no way she'd be able to stand even a slight chance against them. From what Moka had heard Kokoa had started fighting the masked creatures to test how strong she is. It was a little nerve wracking to think that her sister was fighting those things.

"Did you hear?" she overheard "we're getting new sensei for gym class."

Moka had clearly missed a lot in the past week. The old sensei had gone missing; the kraken one wasn't a big deal because of what he did, but the other one was a surprise. It wasn't a big deal though; the two weren't very good at their jobs anyway. She was sure Mizore would be happy that the kraken sensei got fired.

"Hey Moka" she heard Kurumu call out to her.

"What is it Kurumu?" she asked.

Ever since Tsukune had died the group of girls didn't talk as often, but they still did. They were friends after all and tried to stay close.

"I heard that some new transfer students were getting here today" as the vampire got closer "two of them are freshmen and one is a sophomore."

Moka didn't see the point of the succubus mentioning this, it was irrelevant. So what if there were new students at the academy; it's not like it was important.

"Maybe we can get them to join the Newspaper club" with sadness in her eyes.

Ever since Tsukune had died she didn't seem to be as lively as she used to be. She even skipped classes to sulk in her room. It wasn't hard to see why; she had claimed Tsukune to be her Mate of Fate and he died protecting the secret of Yokai existing in the world. He didn't care about the difference between him and the rest of his friends. They existed together in one school in harmony and that's all that mattered.

"We can try" as she kept walking.

With all honesty she didn't think that the club would continue to exist because Tsukune was the glue that held them together; even the perverted werewolf was a friend to them thanks to Tsukune. He helped everyone understand the differences between each other and look past them to become friends. Stopping to think about it; he was the embodiment of what the academy stood for.

-Tsukune-

The five stepped out of the Senkaimon and looked around; they were at the bus stop that Tsukune and Soifon had first arrived at. Yachiru was looking around and wondering where all the candy shops were. With how Matsumoto spoke of the shops she thought they'd be everywhere she'd look. But she only saw a cliff and creepy scarecrow with a pumpkin head.

Tsukune had his soul badge tucked away in his back pocket to keep it from swinging around and accidently forcing his spirit body out of the gigai he was in at the moment. The last thing he wanted to do was blow their cover right from the get-go.

"Feels like home" Grimmjow said as he started to walk to the mansion in the distance.

He wasn't wrong either. The eerie feeling that lingered in the air that made you look over your shoulder reminded him of Hueco Mundo. He wouldn't have any problems adjusting to the place. The only thing that was different was the fact that this place had a natural day time. Something told him this was going to be a pleasurable experience for him.

"Let's move" Soifon said as she looked at Tsukune "Eiyu."

"Hai" as he followed the 'sensei' down the path towards the school.

"How much about this place do you know?" Matsumoto asked as she lazily walked with him.

Tsukune couldn't really give an honest answer. He couldn't remember much of anything about this place; only where a few places are. Other than that he didn't know much.

"I'm not sure" he said sadly "but I've been here before I came here with Soifon-taichou a while ago. But I can't remember why or when."

"Bummer" she sighed "I was hoping to go shopping before classes started up" as she looked away with a pouting face.

The five continued to walk towards the mansion. Yachiru asked Tsukune if they could go looking for a candy store as soon as they dropped off their stuff in their rooms. Luckily it was the weekend so they'd have time to blend into the crowd; Yachiru would be a little hard to have blend in seeing how she looks to be no older than ten, eleven at best. But as long as she clung to his shoulder it shouldn't be a problem; that wouldn't be a problem since they have the same classes.

Matsumoto asked if they thought she'd be able to get some sake while she was here. Soifon started to question if the fuku-taichou picked the right species to impersonate; succubae weren't known for their love of alcohol, Shojo were. She hoped that the fuku-taichou wouldn't blow it for them.

"Oh" they heard as saw a woman running towards the main office "I can't believe I'm late."

Grimmjow wasn't paying attention and walked right into her path and knocked her down. When he looked at the woman he only had a perverse grin on his face. She had sand blonde hair that was styled and looked like cat ears, an orange tank-top with a white button up shirt on top of it unbuttoned, and a mini-skirt. What made it interesting for him was the fact that he had a clear shot down her shirt.

"Sorry" she said as she got up and looked at the panther "oh, I didn't realize you're a sensei too" seeing his tan slacks, blue undershirt and white button up shirt undone "are you running late to the sensei meeting too?"

She fought a blush when she saw his sharp blue eyes, light blue hair, and muscular build. He was dreamy to her.

"Na" as he rubbed his shoulder "just transferred here from a different school. Never really liked goin' to those borin' things" as he shrugged his shoulders.

"If there's a meeting we need to go to it" Soifon said in a stern voice.

Grimmjow sighed; he felt whipped when he was around the shinigami taichou. Even when he wasn't talking to her she always made some comment to him about something. When he was talking with Kenpachi about Aono's training she made some comment about Grimmjow needed to let the Shinigami Academy teach him.

"Fine" as he looked at the woman he had knocked down "what's your name?"

"I'm Nekonome Shizuka-sensei" she said with a smile as a cat tail swayed behind her.

When Tsukune heard the name he got a flash of memory. It was of him sitting in a room with the girls that Ghoul had mentioned and only one other guy. He wore the school uniform, had a red headband holding his hair out of his face and had a dog collar looking necklace around his neck. He looked familiar to him; did they have class together?

"Jagerjaquez Grimmjow;" he said as he picked her up "which way?" she pointed to the building she was heading to "hold on" before he disappeared with a static like boom.

Soifon sighed; the Arrancar was already testing the limits of the orders they were given. He had just used sonido for something he didn't need to; it was going to be a very long deployment…

"Report in after dinner" Soifon said before she vanished with shunpo.

Tsukune nodded as he started walking towards the dorms with Matsumoto and Yachiru. To say it was a little awkward would've been a slight understatement. Many people were starring at the busty fuku-taichou with their jaws on the ground. She looked like she loved the attention she was getting though; so he really didn't say anything. It was like she wanted people to stare at her boobs with how open she kept her top.

When he stopped and thought about it, she never did apologize for nearly suffocating him when they first met. But right now would've been a bad time to bring that up. They were already getting a lot of attention. Besides, they felt really nice… what the hell was he thinking? He didn't think of women as objects of pleasure; they were people too.

"Oh" Matsumoto said finally remembering something "I never told you my name" looking at 'Eiyu' "it's Matsumoto Rangiku."

"Kenpachi Eiyu" he said back to her.

Now he wouldn't have to worry about someone mixing him up with his actual name. But some of the students were still muttering amongst themselves about him. He still looked like Tsukune Aono; only he didn't have a reputation yet. So he could make a different reputation than he most likely had when he was alive.

"Don't forget about me Chocolate-hair" Yachiru said as she tugged his chocolate hair.

Yachiru didn't like being left out of things. She has even done worse than pull someone's hair when they left her out of something. Don't even ask about what she's done when someone commented on her poor sense of direction.

"Ow" he said as she pulled a little harder "Yachiru-chan, that hurt."

"Paladin?" Matsumoto said with a 'confused' tone "doesn't that contradict your surname?"

She had a very good point; Kenpachi was the name of one that fights for themselves and has killed the worst of enemies, paladins fought to uphold the law. Why neither of them thought of it before was a mystery; although Yamamoto had his reasons for picking the two names for Tsukune's alias.

"Yeah" he said back "but it's the name my Ojichan gave me."

It felt weird referring to the sou-taichou as grandpa, but if it helped keep their cover then he'd deal with it. Although he couldn't help but to feel that if the old taichou found out he'd regret it.

The three continued to walk towards the dorms and continued to have a conversation. She talked about her breasts so casually it made Tsukune blush at the fact that she talked about them so openly. She even said that she had to be careful when walking around out of fear that they'd fall out of her shirt. When Tsukune asked why she wore her shirt like she did if she was afraid that they'd fall out; she answered by saying that she was by no means modest about her appearance. When Tsukune agreed by saying she was beautiful she nearly suffocated him in her cleavage again; luckily Yachiru got her fellow fuku-taichou to let go of him.

After they put their stuff in their rooms they headed towards the cafeteria for some food. Luckily Tsukune wasn't feeling the hunger and thirst he did the last time he was here; that meant that Ghoul was still trying to heal. That was a good sign for the time being; if they could find the hollow Yamamoto wanted them to dispose of quickly he might be able to leave before Ghoul had a chance to fully heal and go looking for the girl he nearly killed.

"Do you think you could teach me some Kido tonight; Rangiku-chan?" he asked her.

"Sure" she cheered "and afterwards we can go out for sake!"

Tsukune froze up at the mention of the alcoholic drink; last time he only had a single drink and was wasted. There was no telling what would happen if he got that way while here. It could be bad; so bad that he ends up blowing their cover and get even more on Soifon's bad side. He wanted to get to know her more, but she didn't really open up. Deep down he couldn't help but to feel like they were alike in some way.

Matsumoto was now in a very good mood. Hardly anyone called her by her first name; let alone add the adornment to the ending. They were going to have fun tonight. Once they found a dance club they'd go there and drink and dance the night away. Plus without Toshiro here to fuss at her about paperwork, she could drink all she wanted too and get away with it. Then in the morning, they could go find a mall and shop for clothes for her and candy for Yachiru.

"I really don't drink" Eiyu said while rubbing the back of his head.

"We can fix that" as she dragged him towards her dorm room.

Yachiru was enjoying the slight misfortune of her new mode of transportation. While he was maybe the luckiest guy from the Seireitei at the moment for being offered drinks from the busty fuku-taichou; he was going to be terribly hung over in the morning from how much the woman in question was going to get him to drink. Only a select few could out drink the woman; Kenpachi being one of them, but even then he regretted it in the morning.

As she was dragging Eiyu they walked pass a group of guys that were starring at them. One of them had a look that showed he didn't believe something. While Eiyu thought it was because of the fact that he was getting dragged by the incredibly hot woman; it wasn't. The group of guys used to work under Kusabi Midou; amongst them was Saizo.

"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" one guy asked Saizo.

"He will be" as he started to walk towards the boy "hey, you!" he called out causing the trio to stop and look at him.

Tsukune quickly recognized the guy as one of the people from his memories. Several of which they were fighting in; so there was no way they were friends while he was alive. This could be bad for him; very bad.

"What's your name" Saizo asked Eiyu.

"Kenpachi Eiyu" he answered.

If this guy bought the alias and left him alone it'd be good. It would mean less trouble for him and he wouldn't have to keep his head low while on patrol. If not, it could mean bad news in the long run. Possibly even having to fight a few people and prove he isn't who they think he is. It could also mean that his cover would be blown already.

"You look more like a Aono Tsukune" he spat as his eyes narrowed on him.

"You must have me confused with someone else" Eiyu said back with a smile "I don't mind the mix up. I heard that everyone has a look-alike somewhere."

The look in the guy's eyes told him he wasn't buying into it. He'd have to think of something quick to convince him that he 'wasn't' Tsukune but Eiyu. He couldn't think of anything that would work; he didn't know what he was like when he was alive so he wouldn't be able to act differently.

"I'm busy so I'll be going" as he turned his back and started to walk again with Rangiku.

Right now walking away was the best choice for the situation. He could fight the guy, but he'd only do that if it was necessary for him to do so. Violence for violence was barbaric and pointless; so why waste the energy and look like a low life? He had a mission and didn't want to waste time with fighting someone when it wasn't necessary.

"I'm not done with you" Saizo said as he grabbed Eiyu's shoulder and tried to punch him.

Eiyu could've dodged, but Yachiru was still on his left shoulder; the same side that the punch was coming to. If he dodged and caused Yachiru to get hurt, he'd have to answer to Kenpachi about it. The only thing he could do was to take the hit and tell Yachiru to get off so he could fight properly. The hit was powerful and felt like it shook his entire body as it knocked him backwards, but that was nothing; luckily the gigai were just as durable as their spiritual bodies and could take a hit like that.

"Yachiru-chan" he said to her while he rubbed his jaw "I need you to get off" as he looked at the guy that punched him.

"Yay" she cheered as she jumped over to Rangiku "a fight!"

The guys that were with Saizo had a dumbfounded look on their face. This little girl liked watching fights; that was opposite of the norm. Children were supposed to be afraid of violence.

"What the hell have you been teaching that brat?" they asked him.

"I'm just watching after her while we're here" Eiyu answered as he dodged a punch that Saizo threw.

All he had to do was dodge the attacks long enough to wear the guy out. It didn't seem like it'd be that hard; with how he was throwing punches it would only take a few minutes before he was breathing heavy. That's when he'd strike him; when his actions would be slowed because of himself.

-Moka-

She walked around the school ground trying to kill time. With it being the weekend and not having any homework she had too much time to spend. She had already caught up with all the work she missed over the past week and was bored out of her mind. The only thing she could truly think of was Tsukune and how to find him again. If she found him before the ghoul could possess him again she'd be able to find a way to repent herself to him.

Being realistic though, she'd probably never find Tsukune again; but that didn't mean she couldn't hope and look. She thought she had lost him once, and yet she found him; that was enough to motivate her to keep looking no matter what. If worst came to worst, she'd tell her friends what happened to cause her to be hospitalized for the past week and get their help looking for him. She _will_ find him no matter what.

Tsukune meant too much to her for her to just let go. He was someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with; or as much of it as possible. With him being human, she'd easily out live him at least two or three times over. Regardless though, he was the only one _ever_ to find their way to her heart. And it was all because he didn't care about the differences between them and kept coming back to her. That in itself was enough proof to her that he loved her; even when he was surrounded by others that would have stripped naked in a heartbeat for him, he only wanted her.

What's the saying; you never know what you have until it's gone? She never believed that until she lost Tsukune. He was the perfect mate for any female looking; she'd list his attributes but then he'd sound like a dog. The only thing that mattered to her though, was that he was willing to die to protect their friends; but above all, he'd die to protect her. She had never had someone that was so willing to do anything for her except fight her to help her get stronger.

When she took in her surroundings she saw that there was a group of students cheering on something that looked to be a fight. Saizo was involved; she could see his true form as he swung at his opponent. The Monstrel looked worn out from the fight, something that wasn't normal for him. So she let curiosity get the better of her and walked over to see what was going on. She had to push her way through the crowd to get a good view.

When she finally got the view she wanted, her eyes widened. Saizo was fighting someone that looked _just_ like Tsukune. His messy chocolate hair, the school uniform, and above all his face. But how was this possible; he had completely disappeared a week ago. There was no way that he could have returned already.

He kept lazily dodging swing after swing that was thrown at him. It was like he could see right through the attacks and knew how to get around them; which wasn't that hard because it was Saizo. Once you learn about him you'd know that he only fights with his fists and is always predictable with his attacks. But Tsukune could never dodge anyone so lazily, unless where ever he had been before returning he had been training a lot.

"This fight is getting boring" a little girl beside her had said "Chocolate-hair quiet playing with him and let's go eat. The guy's weak."

Saizo clearly heard the girl; he turned around and took a swing at the pink haired girl. Moka went to block the punch, but Saizo was quickly smashed into the ground by the person he was fighting. It happened so quickly that she barely saw what happened with her vampiric eyes. He moved so fast that there was a static like boom as he easily grabbed Saizo's fist with one hand and spun around to kick the Monstrel into the ground head first.

"WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?" several students asked.

"I don't care if you attack me" he said "but don't you dare attack Yachiru-chan."

The boy had his back turned to Moka and couldn't see the boy's face, but deep down she knew it was Tsukune. It had to be; he spoke like Tsukune would've.

"What's going on here?" she heard from outside the crowd.

She recognized the voice; it belonged to the head of the Safety Committee, Kuyo. Ever since Yokai were nearly exposed to humans, the Safety Committee started to make regular patrols around the school rather than just kick back and relax. They even doubled their patrols when the masked creatures started to show up and try to attack students.

"Are you ok Yachiru-chan?" the boy asked as he turned around and kneeled to check on the little girl.

He saw Moka standing next to Yachiru, but didn't want to face her. He was still ashamed of what happened last time he saw her and didn't feel like he could face her again. Besides, why would she want to even look at him after what he did to her? Even if Ghoul felt that it was justified; it didn't change the fact that he had nearly killed her.

"Hai" she said with a smile.

"Explain why you broke the rules and were involved in a fight" someone ordered him.

Eiyu stood up and looked at the person. He had long blond hair, fox like eyes, and was dressed in a black uniform. Suddenly he had a flash of memory that showed the person in front of him setting a fire at his feet while he was tied to a cross of some sort. As it continued he saw that the person was a Kitsune of some sort with four tails. And he was fighting the girls Ghoul had told him about; even the silver haired vampire that Ghoul tried to kill.

"He attacked me" Eiyu said "I dodged his attacks until he swung at Yachiru-chan. That's when I put him on the ground."

Kuyo looked at the boy in utter disbelief; his eyes were telling him that it was Aono, but he knew that he was dead. There was no way this was possible.

"What's your name and what species are you?" he asked.

"Kenpachi Eiyu" he answered "and I'm a Fraccion."

Kuyo raised an eyebrow when he heard the species. He had never heard of such a species before. Either the species was extremely weak to the point where they kept a low profile to keep from being wiped out; or they were extremely powerful and didn't leave anyone to tell stories about them. The latter of the two seemed to be more likely, but even so; why would he answer so easily?

What exactly was a Fraccion? If he took on a Monstrel and didn't look to break a sweat while fighting it, they had to be strong. Yet nothing was known about them.

"A Fraccion?" with a confused tone.

Tsukune mentally slapped himself. He hadn't come up with a good underlying story for Fraccion to tell people. He would have to make one up _right now_!

"We serve demons" he said "and they teach us. Most don't live very long because we die either being trained or protecting our Sama."

He had surprised himself at how believable that sounded. It was a very good lie; little did he know that it wasn't too far from the truth.

"You serve a demon?" Kuyo asked with a slightly surprised tone.

"Hai" Eiyu answered "a panther demon. He's a new sensei here."

Kuyo's eyes widened even more; panther demons were notoriously powerful, able to beat Yuko easily. If the boy was a servant to one, as well as being trained by it, it could mean trouble for the Safety Committee later on. There were only a few options to protect the peace at the academy. One of which he detested the thought of entirely; asking the boy to join the Safety Committee. But if it would protect the peace of the Academy, he'd have to do it.

Killing him was the other option, but that could mean that the panther demon he served could come through the Safety Committee and completely annihilate them completely. Given the combined strength of all the personnel in the Committee could defeat the demon, but that would still mean suffering a large number of losses. And right now they couldn't afford that.

"From what I've seen of you" he said "you're strong. The Safety Committee is composed of the strongest students here, would you be interested in joining?"

Everyone was completely surprised at the offer that the Kitsune had just made the freshmen. It was hard to even get an application to ask to join the Committee, yet the boy was being offered a position by the head of Safety Committee. Something told them the boy could take even the legendary S-ranked Vampire at the Academy, and walk away victorious. That was a fight they wanted to see.

"He seems like he might be strong" Yachiru said from over Eiyu's shoulder at Kuyo "but I don't think it'd be an interesting fight."

"I'm not looking for fights Yachiru-chan" he said as he looked at the little girl "thanks for the offer" as he looked back at Kuyo "but I'm not interested right now. Ask again in a week or two after I know more about the school" as he started to walk away "it was nice meeting you."

He didn't want to jump into anything right now. He wanted to get used to the school and make a friend or two before joining anything. By doing so he could learn about himself when he was alive as well as get more information about the campus. Mainly finding a place where he could train outside of his gigai without being spotted and having his cover blown.

"It'd allow you to live up to your name" Kuyo said "Paladin, fighter of the law. As a member of the Safety Committee you'd be enforcing the rules here at Yokai Academy and ensuring that peace is present. Kenpachi, a name given to those that love to fight and have faced the worst of enemies as well as won the most fights and killed the most of those enemies. You'd have plenty of enemies to fight if you joined."

A little persuasion was needed at the moment. By bringing up the boy's name and explaining the meaning to the names, he could talk the boy into joining the Safety Committee without too much trouble. Strength like what the boy was bound to have could be needed right now; especially with the masked creatures attacking the Academy. If the boy joined it would make their efforts worth more.

They had no means of tracking the creatures so they had to have multiple patrols out at all times. It consumed resources and made it harder for them to enforce the rules that were established by the Chairman. While it wasn't a problem yet, it could soon become one. If they couldn't enforce the rules like they used to, several students could end up challenging them. That would be a complete insult to them; having a rebellion against them would not be allowed.

"Don't stereotype me" Eiyu said as he stopped walking "I only fight to protect someone. I don't care how strong the opponent is; as long as I protect the one I'm fighting for. That guy found that out; don't make the same mistake he did" as he pointed at Saizo.

"I'm a little curious as to why you didn't take him down like you did when he was attacking you" Kuyo said.

"It would've been a waste of energy" Eiyu said "he wasn't worth it."

Yachiru noticed he was starting to sound like Ken-chan.

Suddenly, someone was sent flying into the crowd knocking over several people. Eiyu could hear her swearing as she got back up. He quickly recognized the red-orange hair as the girl he had saved when he was here with Soifon.

"You think that'll keep me down you masked freak?" she spat as she tried to get up but couldn't because of a cut on her leg.

Eiyu's eyes widened when she said that; their alarms hadn't gone off. He pulled out his soul badge just to make sure; sure enough, it was going off and had been for the past five minutes. He had been so focused on the fight he was in he didn't hear it; Rangiku didn't even notice hers going off either. He needed to pay more attention to it if he was going to be killing these things while he was here.

There was a loud roar that came from a Hollow that was running towards its prey as fast as it could. Drool flew from its mouth as it thought about the meal it was going to have. It picked up speed as it drew closer and grew its claws in order to kill its prey; which was having issues getting up for some reason. The Hollow had poison in its claws that would paralysis whatever it cut on its prey after the first cut.

Eiyu disappeared and reappeared between Kokoa and the Hollow. Yachiru was beside Kokoa and had a large smile on her face as she watched Eiyu rear back and land a single punch on the creature and sent it flying. Kokoa couldn't believe the strength the person had; she had spent the last ten minutes trying to find an opening on the creature so she could split its mask in half and kill the thing. Then this person shows up and knocks it on its ass with one hit.

"May I borrow your sword?" Eiyu asked her.

Kokoa didn't have time to respond before the creature got back up and charged again. She quickly threw the weapon at him and was surprised he caught it by the hilt and wasn't surprised by the weight. Kyo weighed a thousand kilograms and was difficult for her to swing around most of the time; yet he caught it like it was nothing. Eiyu centered the blade on his body and grabbed it with both hands. He was a little surprised by the weight of the weapon and questioned how the girl behind him could wield it. She didn't look much bigger than five feet tall and was relatively small as far as muscle went.

Everyone watched as the creature got closer and closer to the Fraccion and was worried that he wouldn't have enough time to attack the beast. He just stood there waiting for it to get close to him; he slowly lifted the blade up over his head and quickly brought it down on top of the creature's masked head. The result was the mask completely splitting in half and the creature vaporizing into nothingness.

Eiyu let out a sigh as he looked back at Kokoa. Kokoa's eyes quickly filled with anger when she saw him, it was the same guy from a week ago. The person she swore she'd kill for what he did to her Onee-sama.

"Are you ok?" he asked with a smile as he kneeled next to her to look at her leg "that's a nasty cut. Let's get you to the infirmary" as he offered his hand to help her up.

Kokoa snapped at this point and punched him in the dead center of his face; nearly breaking his nose.

"WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN DAMN INJURY!" she shouted at him as she got up and limped off.

Luckily the poison that was in the Hollow's claws wasn't a major one. It had begun to wear off already and she could move her leg to some extent. She knew she was too injured to fight anyone right now; so she'd have to drink a lot of blood to heal properly. But once she did, she'd kill the guy that harmed her Onee-sama. She wasn't going to just let him walk; she'd make his life hell till she killed him. Little did she know, nothing she could do would make his life a 'hell'.

"Ow; that hurt" Eiyu said as he covered his face.

He was not expecting to be hit in the face by the girl he was trying to help. All he was trying to do was help her get to the infirmary and she punched him in the face. Not how he planned on being thanked for the action but it's better than what could've happened. She could've kept hitting him until she had broken something; or she could've given him a cup check. Either way though, she still caused blood to trickle from his nose from the hit.

"Kokoa-sama" the sword said before it turned into a bat and flew over to her.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia: hosted by Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Today I will be talking about a Yokai I came across in my research known as the" as he pulled out a piece of paper to make sure he was calling it by the right name "Bake-Bake Bat."

The screen behind him flickered to life and showed a bat that looked like Kyo.

"These creatures have the ability to morph into any weapon that their masters chose. It can only be simple weapons like swords, maces, axes, and other medieval type weaponry" the screen showed Kokoa having Kyo turn into a sword "they are extremely difficult to capture so getting a hold of one is considered a great honor; while also requiring a large amount of skill."

The screen changed scenes and showed how hard it was to capture one. Someone had set up what looked to be a fool proof mouse trap for the bat creature. After it was tripped though, the bat still got away.

"When I researched the species further," he continued "I found that they are the living's equivalent of a shinigami's zanpakuto when it comes to Hollows. Meaning, that not only can they purify Hollows;" the screen showed Tsukune slicing through a Hollow with Kyo to save Kokoa "but they can also injure shinigami with any attack that lands on them" the screen flickered and showed when Kokoa had attacked Tsukune while he was saving her from a Hollow the first time he was sent to Yokai Academy.

"Kurotsuchi-sama" Nemu said as she walked in with a cage that held a bat in it "I managed to capture one as you requested."

"Who are you people?" it asked "where's Kokoa-sama?"

"Oh-goodie" he said as he snapped his fingers and an operating table raised from the floor "now I can do experiments" as he pulled out a large knife.

"KOKOA-SAMA!" Kyo screamed as he was strapped to the table.

Xxxx

Author's Note:

In case anyone didn't notice, the ending scene with Kokoa punching Tsukune in the face and storming off was taken from the anime of Bleach when Urahara was moving into the Twelfth Division and Hiyori was injured from one of the carts that had dumped its contents on top of her. When Urahara tried to treat her injuries with a first aid kit, she punched him in the face and told him to worry about his face.

Please Review,  
Demon


	7. Chapter 7

Questions and Answers]

Pyromania101:  
Q: Why does that itty-bitty bat have to be so cute and funny, huh? Will Moka and the rest of the harem be able to help Tsukune recover his memories? What will his Bankai be like? Wasn't Saizou killed by the Outcast Ayashi after the second fight with Tsukune?  
A: Okay, wow; lots of questions. The bat is funny because he's comic relief for the story; why do you ask? Tsukune is going to avoid Moka because of what he did; the others will eventually find out that he's back, but I haven't decided if they'll help him gain his memories again. Like I said in the previous chapter, I don't plan on having him achieve bankai because not only does that only happen to only a few every generation but he won't have a chance to; I'll think about it though. Saizo was not killed by the Outcast Ayashi, he was just beaten to a pulp by them; in the second session of the manga he is still alive.

On with the story,  
Demon

Xxxx

"Remember" Rangiku said with a smile "every time you don't get it right you have to take a drink" as she swayed a sake bottle in front of him.

Tsukune looked at the bottle with fear. He didn't like the taste of the drink, mainly because he wasn't used to it, and that's why the busty fuku-taichou came up with this to help him learn Kido. She'd explain the mechanics of one and he'd have to perform it; if he didn't get it right, he'd have to take a drink and she'd explain what he did wrong. He just knew that he was going to be completely shit faced drunk by the end of the night.

"Do I have to say the incantation too?" he asked.

"Until you get good enough to do it without one" as she poured a drink knowing he'd fail the first time.

There were two reasons she came up with this idea; one, he needed to be able to perform Kido at any random time no matter what his condition. Two, she needed a drinking buddy. She didn't trust Grimmjow completely and Soifon was such a stick in the mud that she'd never go out and party with her. Yachiru was much too young, and more than likely wouldn't like the bitter taste of alcohol. She would have to increase his tolerance if he'd be able to have even three drinks before getting wasted. She had a lot of work to do.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation," as he held his hand out towards a tree "flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!" as a red sphere started to form in the palm of his hand.

Rangiku watched the sphere and waited for it to leave his hand, but it didn't. It exploded in the palm of his hand and sent him flying backwards into a tree. Luckily Yachiru wasn't on his shoulder when he did this; she was sitting next to Rangiku snacking on some sweets that the cafeteria served with lunch. Tsukune's unfortunate accident was normal for a first try; she had seen some have it happen on their fifth or six try even. Either way though, he didn't do it right.

"Bottoms up" she said with a smile as she held the small glass out for Tsukune to take.

Tsukune got up as he coughed out the dust and dirt that had gotten in his mouth. He felt like he had put too much reiatsu into the sphere; which was why he got blasted back the way he did. Rangiku had said that there was more to the spell than just the sphere, but he didn't think it would've been that big of a deal. Clearly he was wrong and had to work on controlling his reiatsu; with help from either Soifon or Grimmjow of course. They'd be able to guide him through the steps of how to keep the noticeable level lower than what he actually had; after all, the two did it all the time.

Now his school uniform was ruined; it had scorch marks on the right sleeve and several dirt stains along the shoulders, back, and pants. Luckily he had been given a few sets so that he'd be able to go a week in classes and not have to wash clothes every day. He wished he could be doing this out of the gigai; but if someone were to stumble onto them they'd have their cover blown. They needed a place to be able to train without risk of being caught.

He took the cup and downed the shot quickly, but not quick enough; he still caught the taste of the alcohol in the drink. He was glad it was only a small shot of the drink and not a full drink of it. If last time he drank was anything to go by, he would've been on his ass after a few minutes. Rangiku couldn't help but to giggle at the face Tsukune made while he finished swallowing the drink. Sure he didn't drink, yet, but he was a nice guy that didn't like to fight except to protect someone.

"You need to use a little reiatsu to push the spell forwards, away from you;" she explained "otherwise that will happen again. Just be glad it didn't completely engulf you in the blast; I once saw a guy get hospitalized for a month because he didn't push the spell away from him."

Tsukune nodded as he took off his tie, jacket, and shirt; he didn't want them to get completely ruined. However, that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. It was the silver haired vampire he saw earlier; the same one he told to stay away from him when she tried to talk to him. While he didn't come across as an ass, he still didn't want to hurt her again. He said that she should stay away from him because he had a bad experience with a vampire at his other school; so it would be better if they just stayed away from each other.

He doubted it would be that easy; she practically followed him back to Rangiku's room. Luckily they lost her before they got to the dorms; if she had found out which room Rangiku was in it could be bad. The vampire didn't seem to be the type to give up easily on something.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation," as he held his hand out towards a tree "flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"

The red sphere formed in his hand and slowly moved forwards; only it blew up after it moved thirty feet. Thankfully though, it didn't cause as much of a back blast as last time and he only got surrounded by smoke. There was just too much on his mind right now to do this.

"Shot number two" Rangiku said as she poured the drink and handed it to him.

Tsukune only looked at the ground as he took the cup from her and slowly drank it. He didn't care about the taste right now; he only wanted to get that vampire off his mind. The last time he saw her he had nearly killed her and even attacked Soifon to be able to. Deep down he felt like he wasn't human; why would a human do such a thing. Attacking a girl and trying to kill her, and then trying to fight his taichou so that he could kill the girl. If it weren't for Soifon, he surely would've killed the girl.

Rangiku could see that something was bugging the boy she was teaching. Last time he took the drink, he did it quickly; now he slowly gulped it down. She had to do something to cheer him up; but she didn't know enough about him to know what to do.

"What's on bugging you, Chocolate-Hair?" Yachiru asked; beating her to it.

"It's nothing" he lied.

"Don't give us that" Rangiku said in a firm tone "there's something bugging you. Otherwise you would've drank that shot like you did the first one."

Tsukune stayed quiet as he sat next to a tree and just looked into the distance. If he told them it could end up being bad for him; because more than likely Rangiku would pass it up to her taichou. Which would get passed to Yamamoto and he didn't want to think about what would happen from there. The one thing he couldn't figure out though was why Soifon covered for him in her report. He was sure that someone would've come for him once they found out that he had whatever the pale skin boy was.

His greatest fear right now wasn't any hollow that could show up at random or even the Safety Committee; it was Ghoul. The side of him that nearly killed the vampire he told to stay away from him. He didn't know her name, but he knew that she was connected to his past somehow. Friend, enemy, or just an acquaintance it didn't matter to him; they just had to stay away from each other for her own safety. If Ghoul got control again she was as good as dead this time. There wasn't a doubt in his mind about that.

"Don't worry about it" he finally said after the long silence.

-Hueco Mundo-

"Getsuga Tensho" Ichigo shouted as he blasted another wave of Hollows away from him.

He had been walking the outskirts of Las Noches when he saw an army of hollow getting closer to it. It was just as Nel had said; there is a civil war going on in Hueco Mundo for the seat of power. Luckily none of the waves were organized in any way, shape or form; so he would just slice through them easily and not worry about it. But lately, they've been becoming a little more organized in their assaults on the capital of the hollow realm. It was starting to become a concern for him.

Not just because it would mean that they'd eventually have a full scale battle on their hands, but because Orihime was here too. While he wanted a healer to go with him; he didn't want it to be Orihime because of recent events and the fact that if they had a battle in Las Noches, she'd be in danger. Naturally he didn't want her to be in harm's way, but now it wasn't because of it being his nature. Ever since his hollow brought up her looks, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He even saw what his hollow was talking about the other day; she looked beautiful in the moon light.

He rested Zangetsu on his shoulder as the few remaining hollow retreated back into the desert. It was a good thing he spent an entire day doing patrols like this one; with how organized they were it could've been bad if that wave had gotten into Las Noches. Naturally he doesn't spend every day doing patrols like this one; him, Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka and a few others that do patrols as well. Him and Nel would take one half of the day and Pesche and Dondochakka would take the next then the next two Arrancar would take the following half. This had worked so far, so it seemed to be a good system; only problem was he didn't like the thought of Orihime being alone with the two hollow that accompany Nel. They're the ones that taught Nel words a child shouldn't know when she was stuck in that form.

"Is everything ok Ichigo?" Nel asked as she appeared next to him.

She had heard the Getsuga Tensho land on several objects and immediately went to him. He was probably the only shinigami she'd see as a very close friend; especially after everything he did for her. He was willing to die to protect her from Nnoirta when she had amnesia and was tagging along with him when he was here to save Orihime. Deep down she loved the shinigami, but she knew that Orihime loved him too; although, she didn't mind sharing…

"Yeah" he sighed "just another attempt to attack Las Noches; nothing serious though."

"Well" as she looked off into the distance and saw the last of the Hollows get out of sight "our shift is done now. Let's go rest."

Ichigo nodded as he put Zangetsu on his back and followed her to the door on top of the massive dome that Aizen had put in when he reigned here. Luckily they were close to it and didn't need to spend an hour getting to it. When they got to the door they opened it and walked down the hall way to wind up at the deceased Octava Espada's ruined room.

Ichigo wasn't really paying attention as he followed Nel; his thoughts were still on Orihime. His hollow was right about him being attracted to her; only he never really thought about his friendship with the busty healer. He had known her since her brother died in his family clinic after a car wreck, unknowingly though. Then they met again on the first day of high school in homeroom; that's when he actually learned her name. After that, he noticed she would blush when he talked to her; back then he didn't think anything of it, but now he was starting to connect the dots. Man he was dense.

Then again, back then he always wore a scowl and didn't really get to know people. Chad was really the only one that was his actual friend when he had first met Orihime. He knew Tatsuki through his karate class that he took as a child when his mom was alive; given she always kicked his ass, but it wasn't anything serious. It wouldn't surprise him if she was put in the Second Division when she goes to the Soul Society.

Orihime was probably the only girl he knew that didn't want to kick his ass in some way; Nel was also on the list of girls that didn't want to kick his ass for some reason. Tatsuki was protective of Orihime and nearly decked him when he knocked her down by accident when he turned a corner, Chizuru wanted to kick his ass because he was 'standing between her and Orihime…', Karin often smacked him upside the head for things he's done, and Yuzu was always right next to their childish dad when he eavesdropped. Life sucked at times.

"Are you okay, Kurosuki-kun?" he heard Orihime ask him.

He really must have zoned out to not notice that they had arrived back at Nel's old residence when she was here before Nnoirta split her mask open. This was really starting to eat at him; he couldn't stop thinking about her but didn't know what to say to her when he was around her. She was always concerned about others, it was her nature, but it seemed like she was more concerned for him. When he was fighting Grimmjow here and starting to lose, he remembered she was crying. It was like she didn't want to see him die; why didn't he notice it before?

He looked at Orihime and saw she was wearing a similar outfit as Nel and had her hair up like it was when they invaded the Seireitei. He was glad that his Hollow was asleep and couldn't see her; she looked drop dead beautiful, more so with her hair up. He couldn't believe he never noticed how beautiful she was.

"Yeah" as he rubbed his shoulder "just another wave. Are you ok?"

He mentally slapped himself for asking the stupid question. Of course she was ok; no Hollows got past him and even if they did they'd have to fight at minimum three Arrancar to even get close to her. This is exactly what he meant by not knowing what to say when he was around her. He was just glad his dad wasn't here; the childish man would never leave him alone for this.

"Hai" she answered with a small blush.

"She's safe as long as she's with us" Gantenbainne said.

Ichigo looked at the orange afro Arrancar. He was probably the only one he knew that was taller than Chad; who stood at roughly six and a half feet. When he first arrived the afro Arrancar asked how Sado was doing after the Winter War and everything else that had happened; it came across that the Arrancar befriended the large human. It really wasn't too much of a surprise though; after all, not only did the two have similar fighting styles, but refused to kill each other in their fight.

Gantenbainne was glad to hear that Chad was going to make a full recovery from his part in the War. He wanted to be able to spar against him; it was rare for someone to be able to keep up with his strength, let alone beat him. He was the strongest of the Privarons and was only replaced because the artificially made Arrancar were stronger than him. Stark was probably the only exception because he was a natural Arrancar and not made into one by Aizen.

"You wanna get something to eat Orihime?" Ichigo asked her.

"Hai" still blushed.

Loly and Menoly just walked off; while they still didn't like Orihime, they didn't attack her anymore. Menoly didn't like attacking after she saw that the human girl refused to fight back. It didn't set right with her to hurt someone that wouldn't fight back. Loly stopped plotting against the human after she saved her from Yammy's killing attack. She was even questioning what she was thinking when she first started plotting against the 'Princess of Hueco Mundo'.

"I still don't like her" Loly said as they headed up a set of stairs.

-Yokai Academy-

Tsukune lay passed out on the ground. He had tried, and failed, twelve times to get the Kido spell right; he got it on the thirteenth try. He wasn't passed out from exhaustion, not even close; Rangiku had been giving him her slightly stronger sake the entire time. He was almost completely wasted at the moment.

"Guess he really isn't a drinker" Rangiku said as she poured herself a cup of sake.

It was a good thing they weren't going to go out to a club till later in the evening. It gave him time to sleep off the intoxication he had. It sucked that she didn't have her usual drinking buddies with her. Then she'd be able to get free drinks; with Tsukune she'd have to pay for it herself. The money she would've spent on shopping for clothes she was going to have to use carefully so she could still drink. She wanted a pay raise so bad.

She looked over at Yachiru, who was chasing a butterfly that was fluttering through the air. The small child wasn't using shunpo to chase it either; which was a good thing because if anyone saw her use it it could be bad.

"Hi ya" she said to someone behind a tree "why ya hiddin'? Are we playing hide and seek?" with a cheerful voice.

"Yachiru-chan" Rangiku called out "who are you talking to?"

Yachiru reached up to whoever she was talking to and pulled her out. It was a girl with short purple hair, blue-purple eyes, and had a lollipop in her mouth. Rangiku felt like starting to panic; she had no idea how long the girl had been watching them. If their cover was blown already it would mean a lot of paperwork for her; she hated paperwork.

"Lollipop-Lady" Yachiru said with a smile.

"I didn't mean to spy on you" she said to Rangiku "it's just that I come here to be alone and saw you two here."

Rangiku let out an internal sigh of relief. If she's only seen her and Yachiru she hadn't been their very long; their cover was still safe, for now.

"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku" she introduced herself.

"And I'm Yachiru" the child said as she started chasing the butterfly again.

"Shirayuki Mizore" the girl said back.

"Sorry about how it looks here" Rangiku said sheepishly "but my friend was showing me an ability of his and had a few issues. I'm guessing he's still learning it."

Mizore took a look around and saw blast craters everywhere. A few of them were a little further away than the rest of them; with the amount of damage that was done it looked like someone was fighting here. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened though; it was a secluded spot where a few students often fought each other to keep from getting in trouble with the sensei. When she saw a fight going on she'd just hide behind a tree and wait for the two to leave so she could be alone.

"It's no big deal" as she looked at the ground in front of her.

Rangiku saw this and knew something was wrong. She recognized the look in the girl's eyes; it was one of emotional hurt, borderline anguish. It was a look she had in her eyes after Gin had betrayed the Gotei Thirteen; it was one that she shared with Izuru after that day. Even now she still hurt on the inside because of that betrayal.

"What's wrong?" Rangiku asked her.

"The one I loved died not too long ago" the yuki-ona said.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Rangiku said.

With all honesty she would've preferred Gin to have died rather than betray the Gotei Thirteen. If he had died she would've have felt used like she did for the longest time. It took her months to get over the betrayal of the one she thought she loved. She wasn't the only one that felt that way when Aizen, Gin and Tosen betrayed the Gotei Thirteen. There was Izuru, Komamura, Momo, and even Shuhei. Death was easier to accept than betrayal.

"Do you have any more lollipops?" Yachiru asked as she finally caught the butterfly in her hands.

"YACHIRU" Rangiku said "now isn't the time to be asking for candy."

"It's ok" Mizore said as she reached into the pocket on her jacket and pulled a lollipop out.

"Yay" as she let go of the butterfly and took the lollipop from the yuki-ona.

She quickly unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth and smiled at the taste. It was cherry; one of her favorite flavors. This wouldn't be eaten quickly, but it wouldn't last long either. She has had lollipops that were bigger; those only lasted about an hour. Not even Byakuya could keep her quiet with a lollipop; that's why he used large buns now. It took her longer to chew on them and she didn't speak with food in her mouth; with a lollipop she could take it out and talk.

"You should meet Chocolate-Hair" Yachiru said as she dragged the yuki-ona over to where he was sleeping.

When Mizore laid eyes on the boy; they widened. He looked exactly like Tsukune; she should know, she's snuck into his room when he was sleeping and just watched him. He slept heavily and often dreamt of Moka; his breathing would be slow and steady except on rare occasions when his breathing would get slightly heavier. She often believed those times he was having rather vivid dreams of someone amongst her friends; more than often she hoped they were of her.

His breathing was similar to Tsukune's; it was slow and steady. His chest was rising and falling with each breath he took in his sleep. There was a slight blush across his cheeks for some reason though; more than likely it wasn't a birth mark. When she looked at his chest again, she saw that he didn't have any scars on his chest; this proved it wasn't Tsukune. Tsukune had numerous scars that covered his entire torso; the one that stuck out the most was an X-scar on his chest from where he was attacked by a Monstrel. Plus, Tsukune didn't have as muscular of a build as this boy did. Yes he was lean and was starting to build muscle, but this boy had great muscle definition; Tsukune didn't have that.

"Chocolate-Hair wake up" as she poked the sleeping boy "wake up" as she continued to poke him.

The boy sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been passed out; all he remembered was finally getting the Kido spell right and passing out. Rangiku had made him drink twelve shots of sake for failing to get the spell right twelve out of thirteen times. Right now his mouth was a little dry but it wasn't as bad as the first time he drank. He had nearly chugged over a gallon of water to get the dryness out of his mouth.

"This is Lollipop-Lady" Yachiru said as she pointed at the yuki-ona.

His eyes widened as he looked at the girl Yachiru had introduced to him; he recognized her from his memory flashes. She was a friend of his when he was alive, but he knew that she was a friend of the silver haired vampire. One memory was of him saving her from falling down the cliff that they had passed while looking for a place to practice Kido. He remembered a tentacle, but after that he can't remember much other than waking up in a pink haired girl's arms.

"I'm Kenpachi Eiyu" he introduced himself as he stood up.

He was a little wobbly from drinking the sake that Rangiku gave him, but it was an incentive for him to get the spell right. She knew he wasn't a drinker and came up with the 'drinking game' as she called it. He really didn't understand the point to it though.

"Mizore" she said to him.

"You should come with us tonight" Yachiru said "we're gonna go out to a dance club and have fun. Hopefully there will be lots of candy" with her childish grin.

-Later-

Tsukune was looking at the massive TV looking thing that was set up in Yachiru's room. It had purple things coming from the sides of it that ran into the walls. This clearly meant that Yachiru wasn't going to be sleeping here; even though she was small enough to still have plenty of room here, she'd use it TV for more than just giving Yamamoto reports.

"That's the last of it" Soifon said as she finished wiring the TV.

Almost immediately it flickered to life and Yamamoto was on the screen looking at them.

"Report" he said firmly.

"We have successfully established out identities to the inhabitants here" Soifon said "Aono even convinced everyone that he is his alias. He had fought a Yokai called a Monstrel and defeated him. So far no signs of the Hollow you have ordered us to kill."

"Very well" as he looked at the group "is there something you wish to say Aono?"

He could see that the boy wanted to speak up, but was afraid to since he thought he was already on his bad side. It was understandable; the boy was new to the Gotei Thirteen and didn't know how things worked yet. Also, Yamamoto did come across as harsh most of the time.

"Several people recognized me" he said "they would've easily blown my cover if I hadn't fought the guy earlier today. Even though I fought the guy and won, I still think that a few are still skeptical about my identity. Also, we were nearly caught when Matsumoto-fuku-taichou was teaching me a Kido spell. We need a place to train without the risk of being caught by the locals."

"I already foresaw the risk of you being caught while training" Yamamoto said "I sent two shinigami a few days ahead of you so they could construct a proper training area for you. It will be ready in the next forty-eight hours."

Matsumoto let out a sigh of relief; this meant that they could train without having to be extremely careful of where they are. Plus, it'd be a place she could hide her sake. She had already found a note on the floor of her room saying that it had been inspected by the student living department. Luckily she didn't have any sake in there; what she had she took with her when she taught Tsukune.

"As for those that are skeptical of your alias;" he continued "do whatever it takes to fix that problem" right before the screen went black.

Tsukune looked down at the ground with a sad look in his eyes. He didn't want to be here; not because he thought it was a waste of time, but because of Ghoul. It was only a matter of time before he gained control again; then he'd go and kill that vampire. But he didn't have a choice in the matter. He was here by orders from the sou-taichou himself; you never disobey orders, especially if they're from Yamamoto.

Tsukune walked out of the room with Yachiru still on his shoulder. Right now he didn't feel like talking to anyone; with all honesty he didn't even feel like going out tonight. Soifon had patrol for tonight, so he couldn't use that to get out of going. He could ask Grimmjow to train him some more, but he had plans with the sensei that he had met earlier. There was no way to get out of it; it sucked. He wanted to just go take a shower and pass out. Using so much reiatsu earlier had made him tired as all hell.

"Hurry up Chocolate-Hair" Yachiru said "or we'll be late for dinner!"

Tsukune couldn't help but to smile when the small girl said that. She always had a way to make you forget about what was bugging you.

"Alright, Yachiru-chan" he said as she picked up his pace a little.

Sure he could use sonido and get back to his room even quicker, but he was enjoying the fresh air. It helped clear his head and forget most of the world around him. There was so much of it that was bugging him at the moment that he was already stressed. Between Ghoul, the vampire, having to hunt for the Hollow, maintain his alias, and look into his past; his time was already pretty much gone.

As he walked he passed a few groups of people that were talking about the rumor about him that had spread already. It was that he was stronger than even the S-ranked vampire of the school, Moka, and could more than likely take her and win. His slightly cold attitude towards her earlier had already killed some of the skepticism about his alias. It also caused some to believe he despised vampires and didn't want anything to do with them; this wasn't true, he was only trying to protect her from Ghoul.

If he befriended the vampire she could easily figure out that he wasn't Kenpachi Eiyu, but Aono Tsukune. That was something that couldn't happen. He was already in the hole; he didn't want to start making it deeper with a bulldozer instead of filling it in with a shovel. No matter what, he'd have to keep his distance from her. The only problem was he couldn't stop thinking about her; her red eyes, silver hair, and how she walked with so much confidence… except when she was talking to him.

When she spoke to him there was a hint of fear. He understood this; after what he did he thought she would've never even wanted to look at him. Yet she was trying to befriend him; clearly she lost a large number of brain cells in the beating Ghoul gave her. She should be staying away from him; not trying to get closer to him. He was going to have to take a different approach to get her to stay away from him.

"What-cha thinkin?" Yachiru asked him.

"That maybe I should join the Safety Committee to keep that vampire away from me" he said as he passed another group.

If what the head of the Safety Committee told him was true; then he'd be so busy that he wouldn't have time to be near the vampire. And vice versa. If what he remembered was correct, she had issues with the Safety Committee; so if he were to join it, she'd probably give up on trying to befriend him. Of course it could only buy him some time away from her; since she could join to try to get closer to him.

"Why; she seemed nice."

Yachiru could feel the strength coming from the vampire her transportation wanted to stay away from when she talked to him. She also spoke very confidently and knew what to say. Besides, Yachiru was having issues coming up with a nickname for her, which rarely happens; so the vampire had to be nice. Re-chan was the last one she had difficulties coming up with a nickname for and the taichou was extremely nice to everyone.

The silver haired girl was trying to become his friend and yet he pushed her away. It seemed different than what he would normally do. He had made friends with cue ball rather quickly from what she saw; and was even friends with Kitty. Why would it be so hard for him to become friends with the silver haired vampire?

"It's complicated."

Complicated? That was only the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't just complicated; it was so damn confusing that it would take a Wiseman to figure it out. She was connected to his past somehow, he had tried to kill her, she was still trying to befriend him, and he was afraid of what Ghoul would do to her. It only being complicated would be a nice thing; but it wasn't. It was one big headache to deal with. If she didn't stay away from him Ghoul would be able to easily kill her. If they were enemies, she'd be on her toes and keep suspicions about him; at least then she might be able to put up a fight against Ghoul.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, Yachiru-chan" he said as he opened the door to the dorm building.

-That night-

The music was blasting; customers were dancing and drinking. The large establishment could easily accommodate at least half of Yokai Academy and still have room. It was a three story building that had a bar on each floor, as well as a dance floor and a modern juke-box so customers could listen to the songs they requested. It was a very nice place; definitely one that was a place where you could go to to forget any worries you'd have back at the Academy.

The reason the owner allowed alcoholic drinks to be served was because not only was the club in the same little rift that the Academy was in; but because the students would have to learn how to maintain their human forms even when drunk. But of course she employed some of the strongest Yokai as bouncers just in case a few students started fighting. The bouncers didn't have to maintain their human forms either; one was a Minotaur and the other was an Ogre, those are just the two that you could easily point out.

Eiyu sat with Rangiku, Yachiru and Mizore at a club called The Retreat. It was made special for Yokai to be able to go out and have fun without running the risk of a fight breaking out with a Yokai and a human and issues arising. Rumor had it that the owner was a human herself but didn't care that Yokai existed. And since the club was under the protection of the head master, no one could do anything to harm the owner. Some speculated that the head master knew the owner personally; which is why she's under his protection.

"You sure you don't want a drink Eiyu?" Rangiku asked him.

"Hai" he said as he felt Yachiru situate herself next to him "maybe later though."

He was still getting the last of what he drank earlier out of his system so he didn't want to add more just yet. Besides, they were here to have fun; if he passed out from drinking then Rangiku wouldn't be able to party like she wanted to. He didn't want to do that to her; especially if they'd have to do patrols every night from here on out to look for Hollow. Tonight was going to be one of the few times they'd be able to do this.

"What about you?" looking at the yuki-ona.

"I'm fine, thank you" Mizore said.

The yuki-ona had something on her mind that had been bugging her since Tsukune had died. Since she was turning seventeen this year, she'd be married off to someone by the priestess of her village. Originally her plan had been to ask Tsukune to help her get out of that; which is why she was always telling him that they'd make snow-fairies together. But that went out the window when he died. Now she had no choice; however, she has accepted this and knew it was her duty to her people.

"More for me then" she cheered as she quickly downed a shot.

"So what exactly are you guys?" Mizore asked trying to take her mind off what is to become of her within six months.

"Succubus."

The yuki-ona let out a sigh. Another large chested succubus was at the academy; as if one wasn't enough. She didn't have anything against her blue haired friend, but she did envy the fact that she had much larger breasts than her. If she had larger breasts then maybe she would've been able to subdue Tsukune like Kurumu had tried to so many times. The only difference would've been that she could've frozen him and dragged him off somewhere and done it in private; Kurumu always tried to do it in public.

"Fairy!"

That quickly explained why the pink haired girl looked so much like a child. Fairies were creatures that didn't really age once they hit a certain point in life. Even their 'adults' looked more like children than actual adults. However, it was unusual to see a fairy; but she really had no room to talk, she was hundreds of miles away from the mountain her village is on. Yuki-ona don't leave their villages very often, and even then it's only for a short period of time.

"Fraccion."

"Fraccion?" with a confused tone.

"It's alright" Eiyu said "we aren't known because we serve demons. I serve a panther demon, he's a sensei here, and he also trains me."

Mizore nodded in understanding; of course there were Yokai that weren't known of. If all of the species were known, then it'd be rather boring. There were even legends of a type of vampire that was so pure bred that they make the ones that are known today look like mere C-ranked Yokai by comparison. That power gap was the difference between the purest of the species and those that are known today.

"What all can you do?"

"Well" Eiyu said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "I only recently learned I'm a Fraccion. If Grimmjow-sama wouldn't have told me that my speed was that of a Fraccion I never would've found out. I know I'm faster than a werewolf, but other than that… I'm not too sure."

"Let's dance" Yachiru cheered as Nickelback's 'Far Away' came on.

Mizore and Eiyu really didn't get much of a choice since Yachiru was on the inside of the booth they were sitting at and she practically pushed them out of it. Neither of them were expecting her to be that strong; honestly, who would expect a little girl to be able to push two people out of a booth? The pink haired girl also didn't waste time in dragging the two onto the dance floor for the slow song. There were many times when she tried to dance with Kenpachi, but he wouldn't do it. Luckily though, Tsukune wasn't Kenpachi.

(Author's Note: Italicized are the song lyrics, not thoughts, until further notice)

"_This time, this place; misused, mistakes  
Too long, too late; who was I to make you wait?  
Just one chance, just one breath; just in case there's just one left;  
Cause you know, you know, you know…"_

Both the teens blushed a little when Yachiru pushed Eiyu into Mizore and then got him to hold her hand. Eiyu because he was a little embarrassed about the fact that he didn't know how to dance. Mizore because she liked the warmth of his hand in hers; which was weird considering the fact that yuki-ona don't really like warmer things.

"_That I love you, I've loved you all along;  
and I miss you, been away for far too long.  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go.  
Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore."_

"I don't know how to dance" Eiyu said with an embarrassed look on his face.

"It's easy" as she gently pulled him a little closer "it's mostly in the hips" as she swayed them side to side and got him to follow along.

Eiyu moved in sync with the yuki-ona; he figured out she was one when Yachiru got them to hold hands. The cool feel of her hand felt nice against his false body's. The book he checked out of the library was already proving to be useful. He wasn't sure if he ever danced with her when he was alive, but right now he really didn't care. He was enjoying the dance.

"_On my knees, I'll ask last chance for one last dance.  
Cause with you I'll withstand,  
all of it to hold your hand. _

_I'd give it all, I'd give for us;  
give anything but I won't give up.  
Cause you know, you know, you know…_

_That I love you, I've loved you all along.  
And I miss you, been far away for far too long;  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go.  
Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore."_

Yachiru jumped onto Eiyu's shoulder and draped her arms over so she could still 'dance'. She knew she was much too small to be able to dance with someone by herself, so she got the two teens to dance together. This way she could still feel like she was dancing; it really sucked being as small as she was at times.

"_So far away, so far away, been far away for far too long.  
So far away, so far away, been far away for far too long."_

Mizore was enjoying the dance; she never had a chance to dance with Tsukune before he died. It was a painful thought thinking of that, but for some reason dancing with Eiyu right then and there made her feel better. Even with the Fairy hanging from his shoulder; everything seemed so much better now than it was earlier that day. She had been depressed and didn't want to be around anyone; yet, his Fraccion was making her feel so much livelier. It was similar to how Tsukune made her feel, only Eiyu was different; he didn't have a harem of girls fighting over him and saw her.

"_But you know,  
you know, you know…"_

Yachiru was enjoying the dance too. She liked the way Lollipop Lady acted motherly towards her; it reminded her of Re-chan. Plus, Eiyu was having fun as well. Deep down she wanted the Chocolate haired boy to be happy; if he didn't find happiness in fighting, then she'd set him up like this more often. It was hard to get Ken-chan to be really happy because there were only a few people that could put up a good fight for him. With Chocolate-Hair it would be much easier.

"_I wanted,  
I wanted you to stay;  
cause I need, I need to hear you say._

_I love you, I have loved you all along;  
and I forgive you, I forgive you for being away for far too long.  
So keep on breathing cause I'm not leaving you anymore.  
Believe it, hold on to me never let me go."_

Mizore couldn't help but to feel this song fit how she felt. Eiyu looked just like Tsukune, and he had died almost a month ago; far too long… Eiyu held onto her gently as they continued to dance with the music. She liked the feeling of him holding her like that; while she always wanted it to be how Tsukune would hold her, those thoughts were starting to be replaced by actually being held like that by this freshman. It felt weird to her for the feelings she had for Tsukune to quickly move to someone she had just met, but right now she didn't mind. She was enjoying the happiness for the time being.

"_Keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore.  
Believe it, hold on to me never let me go.  
Keep breathing, hold on to me and never let me go.  
Keep breathing, hold on to me and never let me go…"_

(Author's Note: Italicized words are now thoughts again)

"Would you like to dance again?" Eiyu asked her.

"Hai" with a noticeable blush on her cheeks.

-The Next Morning-

Tsukune woke up in his bed feeling rather refreshed considering that Rangiku made him have a few drinks with her after his dance with Mizore. They left the club around two in the morning; Rangiku insisted on staying that late, having several drinks and even got a dance from him. He felt right at home here at Yokai Academy; even if it was only temporary and he was basically lying about his identity.

When they left the club, he had walked Mizore back to her room since it was late. They casually talked and she told him about her friends; one of which was the vampire he wanted to avoid. Eventually though, she talked about Tsukune; him. He was once a human at this school of Yokai and, in his own right, was stronger than even the strongest of Yokai. He stood against Yokai that could make a quick meal out of humans; and walked away from them with only a few wounds. She didn't tell him anything further than when he was found out by the Safety Committee and sentenced to death for being human.

Was that how he died; no it couldn't be. He had memories of holding the silver haired vampire in his arms when he came to from being 'shot' with a flame through the chest. It had to be some time after that; his memories that had come to him where coming too randomly and not in order. He couldn't piece any of them together properly and it annoyed him until… crash… he slammed his fist onto the nightstand next to the bed and knocked the lamp off and onto the ground.

"I need to know" he whispered to himself.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Nemu stepped through the Senkaimon and looked around at the odd scenery. The pumpkin headed scarecrow was different that what she had read about in books while doing research. The ones she knew about had a sack stuffed with straw of some sort and had a face drawn onto it. Then again, those were human scarecrows; she was at Yokai Academy, as per her taichou's orders to collect a sample of Aono's blood. Ever since the two had their fight he had been making several new poisons that he hoped could affect the boy; but he couldn't be certain without a test of some sort.

She rolled the pendant that she was give to conceal her reiatsu; she wasn't used to wearing jewelry of any kind. It wasn't that she couldn't afford any, not at all, but rather that she could never find the time to go look for anything. Besides, even if she did find something her taichou most likely wouldn't let her wear it.

"Which way" she asked herself as she looked at her locater.

There were several blips on the screen; none of them gave any identity as to how they belonged to. She made a mental note to address the problem when she returned to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. It would take some time before it would be fixed though; more modifications to the Soul Phones would have to be made, each individual phone identification number would have to be entered into the mainframe and then a few more modifications might still be needed. That's when she remembered, Tsukune didn't have a Soul Phone; he had a Soul Badge, which didn't show up on her locater.

She let out a sigh of disappointment. It was going to take longer than she thought to find him; good thing her taichou didn't give her a time limit on how quickly he wanted the sample. It would give her time to find him and thank him for standing up for her. Only one person had ever done that before; Uryu, the last Quincy. Even then, it didn't change anything; mainly because Yamamoto wasn't there to observe what was happening. It wasn't till Tsukune took a stand, in broad daylight and in front of everyone, that Kurotsuchi was finally forced to stop abusing her.

She took another look at the locater and decided to go to the closest one; using shunpo she vanished and appeared near it. According to her locater the phone was on the ground floor, which was good because it made it easier for her. As she walked around the outside of the building trying to find which room was the one the Sou Phone was in she noticed that there was nothing in the means of landscaping. Usually buildings had some sort of landscaping; even the Shinigami Research and Development Institute had landscaping outside.

The locater beeped when she was outside the room she was looking for. When she looked in she saw the Arrancar Grimmjow sleeping on his side with his comforter pulled up over his torso. He was sound asleep, even at the hour of the morning that it was…

"Jagerjaquez-san" she said as she tapped on the window "Jagerjaquez-san" tapping even more.

On the inside of the room, Grimmjow was half asleep when he heard the tapping start. It wouldn't have been bad, except that it got louder and the taps slowly came closer together. He had just had a very late, but fun, night with the sensei he had met the day before. She proved to live up to her species as she purred next to him with a smile on her face.

"WHAT?" he shouted at the window as he finally had enough of the tapping and got up to open the window.

"Where is Aono-san?" she asked in a calm tone not at all affected by his tone or his lack of clothes.

"Boy's dorm" as he started to slide the window closed again.

"Which room?" as she stopped the window.

Nekonome-sensei started to wake up and meowed as she stretched.

"Five nineteen" as he moved her hand, closed the window and pulled the blinds closed.

As Nemu started to walk away she heard load meows of pleasure coming from the room. She used shunpo again to get to the boy's dorm building and look for the right room. While she was traveling though, she couldn't help but to feel curious about what it was like; the act that the Arrancar was performing with the other sensei. She had never been able to have a 'one-night-stand', as she had heard them called; not that she didn't try. But being the 'daughter' of one of the creepiest taichou in the Gotei Thirteen tended to kill any chance of finding someone that would do the act with her. She made a mental note to ask Matsumoto for some advice on the matter after she got the sample she came for.

When she arrived at the boy's dorm building, she looked up to the fifth story and saw an open window. Naturally, she used shunpo to get up to it; she scared the shit out of the boy in the room when she 'randomly' appeared in his window. He had slammed himself up against the wall and was holding his chest like he was having heart problems.

"What room is this?" she asked bluntly.

"F…Five e…eighteen" he said in a shaky voice.

"Which way is Five nineteen?"

The boy point in the direction and didn't say a word. Nemu jumped from that window over to the right window; leaving the boy behind as he fell to the ground from shock. Lucky for her the windows didn't have locks on them at this level otherwise she would've had to broken the window to get in. She opened the window and walked in; it was a simple room, white walls, a single long twin bed with a nightstand and dresser. Yet she found it to her liking; it was simple enough to be able to modify without any complications.

Before she started to think about the modifications she could do, she checked to make sure she had the right room. She started in the dresser, but found that he had the same clothes as the boy next door. A minor setback; next she checked the closet and saw the dirty clothes hamper, which had clothes that looked to have been put in there recently. She was getting nowhere…

She sat at the desk and opened the drawer. When she did, she found a 'to do' list on top of a book that looked like it belonged to the library here at the Academy. She read the list and saw that she had the right room; there was a meeting with Soifon listed at the top of the list that had been crossed out with the time next to it. Below that was 'meet with Rangiku and Yachiru to go out' at eight last night. And today… 'Go to mall with Yachiru and Rangiku' with a time of Eleven o'clock…

Embarrassment fell on her when she looked at the clock that was on the night stand and saw it read eleven fifteen… she had just missed him.


	8. Chapter 8

Questions and Answers:

Leonidas 1994:  
Q: Are you gonna put a TsukunexMoka in this story?  
A: I am not planning on having them get back together, but that doesn't mean they won't have moments…

Alhazad2003:  
Q: Since Ghoul is acting like a Hollow, will Tsukune have to see the Vizoreds in order to keep himself in check?  
A: I'm not gonna spoil it.

Comments:  
Of course he's not gonna get a break; otherwise it wouldn't be funny. I might have Rangiku develop feelings for him, but not like what the crazy harem of girls had; that fangirl crap gets old. And, as requested, opening scene is of Yachiru before a fight breaks out…

On with the story,  
Demon.

xxxx

Yachiru was currently looking at all the sweets that filled the candy shop in the mall with eyes that showed how happy she was. Eiyu and Rangiku had asked if she was ok with being left alone here; of course she said yes, there was candy here… There were even some free samples offered for a new candy that was being sold at the store. It was the candy that was sour then turned sweet! Luckily she had a large amount of the money she had accumulated over her time as a fuku-taichou with her; by the end of the day she could buy out the entire shop…

"Yukari-chan, why do you run from me?" someone asked.

A tick mark appeared on Yachiru's forehead when she heard this. Whoever the voice belonged to obviously didn't realize that he was beginning to annoy the little fuku-taichou. The last person that annoyed her didn't get out of Fourth Division's Clinic for a month…

"Stay away from me you lolicon-pervert!" a girl shouted at him as she turned the corner and bumped into Yachiru "sorry."

Yachiru blinked a couple times. The girl was only a little taller than her and was wearing a witch's costume over the school uniform; complete with the pointed hat. She liked the way it looked; it was cute.

"Yukari-chan" as the owner of the annoying person rounded the corner too.

"Leave me alone!" Yukari shouted at him.

Yukari quickly hid behind the pink haired girl when she saw that the guy wasn't leaving. She knew that splitting off from the group was a bad idea, but Moka insisted on it so that they wouldn't spend the entire day here. The S-ranked vampire never did like going to the mall for anything. She no more got out of sight from her friends when this guy started harassing her; again…

"Go away" Yachiru said as she turned her attention back to the shelves stacked with sugary goodies "she doesn't want you near her. And you're startin' to annoy me" her tone was dark and it was clear she didn't want to put up with the fat pervert. The sooner he left, the better.

"Yukari-chan…" he started to say but felt a massive Youki coming from the little girl.

"I said;" as she looked at the guy with anger in her innocent eyes and a pink Youki surrounding her "you're annoying me!"

-Meanwhile: Eiyu-

He sat outside the changing room waiting on Rangiku to come out with the outfit she was trying on. He was surprised at how busy the mall was; even on a Sunday there were people constantly coming in and out. Many people starred at Rangiku, or her breasts; either one wouldn't surprise him really. She was a beautiful woman with a great body.

"You still out there Eiyu?" she asked from the changing room.

"Hai" he said back.

The mall didn't look familiar at all to him; so more than likely he didn't come here often, if at all, when he was alive. Then again, just because he didn't recognize anything yet didn't mean he wouldn't. The agenda he had worked in with his class schedule and even patrolling the campus. He'd look around and see what would trigger a memory; the first place he should try was where he… Ghoul nearly killed that vampire girl. He said that it was funny for them to meet there again. It had to be a place that had an important memory for him.

"What do you think" Rangiku asked as she opened the door.

He quickly blushed at the sight. She was wearing a jean mini-skirt that looked like it barely covered her butt and front. There was a flower design on the right side that had what looked like vines going around the back and circled back to the front to where a belt could be worn. The shirt she had on hugged her slender stomach nicely and was a normal shirt. It was brown with the breast cancer awareness ribbon on the right side of the chest with the kanji for 'fight like a girl'.

"Looks great" he finally managed to say.

"I'm thinking about cutting the shirt lengthwise and making it so I can have it reveal my boobs" as she made the hand motions so he could get a mental image.

He got one alright; a rather good one. So good that he had a nose bleed start. That was all that the busty fuku-taichou needed to know it was a good plan. She quickly went back into the changing room and changed back into her school uniform, which allowed her boobs to have room and not be so constricted; like they were in the shirt she was currently in.

Eiyu wiped the blood from his face and let out a sigh of relief that she didn't actually show him what she was meaning. If it was anything like how she wore her uniform then he would more than likely lose use of his legs. The fuku-taichou seemed to have taken a liking to him after they actually met; at Yokai Academy, not the Seireitei. She was a rather open woman but seemed like she'd be serious when she needed to be. He closed his eyes and suddenly felt an increase of reiatsu, but it wasn't hollow at all.

"It's coming from where Yachiru-chan is" he said as he quickly sprinted to the exit.

As he ran he didn't think and forgot that he was still holding some clothes that Rangiku had tried on. When he exited the store the anti-theft alarms went off and security quickly started chasing him. Of course he wasn't focused on himself, he was worried about Yachiru; he knew that leaving her alone was a bad idea. Sure she could take care of herself, she was a fuku-taichou after all, but she was still a child; and here there was bound to be someone that would be able to fight on the same level as a fuku-taichou. That thought worried him; so he used sonido to vanish and get to where he left her quicker. Eiyu's main focus was on finding Yachiru and making sure she was alright. He didn't want anything to happen to the child; he had become rather attached to her. She often acted like a little sister would; last night was a prime example of that.

Of course the store he had just come from was no stranger to high speed thieves and had employed werewolves as security. However, none of them were expecting the 'thief' to move so fast that he would cause a sonic boom. Not many werewolves could do that; and even those that could, would end up suffering serious repercussions afterwards. Broken bones were normally the worst of them, loss of vision was rumored to be normal as well as feeling extremely tired when your body finally caught up with you. The guards quickly continued trying to pursue the thief and bring him in.

When Eiyu arrived outside the candy shop, what he saw surprised him completely. The glass window pane that once stood, intact, at the front of the store was now shattered glass that lay on the ground. Oddly enough though, there was a heavy set guy laying passed out and bloodied in the center of the glass shards. The guy looked a little familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"GOT YA" he heard several people shout before he turned around to see almost the entire mall security right on top of him and jumping towards him.

Back at the store…

"Eiyu, you still out here?" Rangiku asked as she opened the door to see several female security guards just before they jumped her.

That was the last thing she was expecting to happen when she opened the door. If anything she was expecting to find Eiyu passed out on the ground from the nose bleed he had.

-Yukari-

She couldn't believe how strong that little girl was; with two hits she knocked the lolicon pervert through the glass as well as completely out. If that wasn't weird enough, she no more did that and she went right back to filling a bag with candy to buy. And people say she's weird for wearing a witch's costume and not caring what anyone else thought about it. This girl was really something else; she didn't have a problem approaching an issue with violence and then once it was taken care of she acted carefree. It was beyond her comprehension.

"Thank you" she heard the little girl cheer as she paid the cashier and left the store with a lollipop in her mouth.

Apparently the lolicon pervert normally hung out here and caused issues on regular bases. She knew the owner and knew that he wouldn't like such violence in his store; yet he let it go like it was nothing. She was just glad that she could now get away from the creeper and find her friends for safety.

"Chocolate-Hair" she heard the girl say "did you get in a fight and not let me watch?"

"What the hell have you been teaching this kid?" all the security guards asked at once as they looked at the one in question.

Yukari looked at all the security guards and saw that they were holding someone in custody for something. Upon further observation, she saw, thought she saw, Tsukune being the one that they were holding in custody. Tears began to form in her eyes; she had dreamed of this happening, but never thought it would. Not only was he not dead, but he looked as if nothing happened. She let her emotions get the better of her as she took off running towards him. The first person that looked at her as an equal was alive and well; she couldn't contain the tears of joy. There weren't words to describe how happy she felt as she wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shirt.

"I knew *sob* you wouldn't *sob* die ~desu" she cried "I just knew it" as she rubbed her head into his stomach.

Eiyu was complete lost for words; he recognized the girl from his memories, but other than recognizing how she looks that's all he knew about her. Saying awkward would be a minor understatement; a girl that was no more than twelve was clinging to him like he was a puppy she had lost.

"Do… I know you?" he asked softly.

Yukari quickly looked up at the person she was hugging. It was Tsukune… or at least it looked like Tsukune. He had the same eyes, hair, and even soft look in his eyes that showed he was concerned about you.

"I'm Yukari" she said with a cracking voice from crying.

How could he not know her? She had proclaimed her love to both him and Moka just last year. After everything they've been through; how could he not remember her?

"I'm Kenpachi Eiyu" he said with a gentle smile.

On the inside he was questioning who else would know who he really is. So far he had run into at least four people that could identify him as Aono Tsukune. If he didn't play his cards right he could end up blowing his cover… again…

"No," she said as tears continued to flow down her face "no you're not. You're Aono Tsukune;" with a hint of anger in her voice "you fought against the class president last year to protect me!"

With those words, Eiyu had a flash of memory where he was indeed protecting the little girl from what looked like lizards… he'd have to look them up in the book he checked out of the library. The lizards were wearing a school uniform, so they had to be students; and if what the girl said was true, one of them was the class president. As the memory continued he saw that he had pulled a Rosario off the pink haired girl and she changed into the silver haired vampire that Ghoul had tried to kill. The two girls were one? How was that possible?

"I'm sorry," he said gently "but I'm not this Aono guy. He must have been something around here" with a slight joking tone "you're the third person that has mistaken me for him."

"Yukari" they heard "are you alright? I heard the glass…" as the new girl looked at Eiyu.

It was the girl that Ghoul had called Kurumu; and he wasn't lying when he said she had a large chest. They looked to be double D's easily. It was the girl that he first remembered when he was in the Seireitei. And if what he saw in his memory was something that happened on a normal basis…

"Tsukune!" she shouted as she jumped onto him and smothered him in her breasts.

Yachiru was laughing at the scene while rolling on the ground and holding her gut. It was priceless; Eiyu was being smothered in the blue haired girl's boobs while she was unknowingly pinning the girl dressed as a witch between her and Eiyu. It was funny to watch Eiyu struggle to get out from the girl's boobs so he could breath. If he didn't hurry he'd pass out; he looked to be changing colors already…

Eiyu put his hands on the girl's waist and pushed her off of him; gasping for air as he did so. Now he understood why the memory came to him when Rangiku greeted him like that when he first bumped into her. It was a very nice feeling.

"I'm not this Tsukune guy" he said quickly before the succubus managed to somehow get him back into her breasts.

"I missed you sooooo much my Tsukune" the girl cried "my Destined One, my Mate of Fate."

It was clear that the girl wasn't listening to him. How could he make it clear to her that he 'wasn't' Tsukune?... No ideas came to mind; he was stuck like this, between a rock and a hard place (well more like two extremely soft places, but you get the idea). Luckily though, he didn't need a plan.

"What do you think you're doing to Eiyu?" he heard Rangiku say/shout.

Kurumu looked over and saw the busty student walking over to her. Luckily that had distracted the girl long enough for Eiyu to break free and put some distance between him and the blue haired girl. Sure he could've used force to get away from her, but she was a girl and it would've been wrong to do that. The girl that introduced herself as Yukari looked to be just as out of breath as he was.

"Who's Eiyu? The only one I see is Tsukune" Kurumu said back.

She looked at 'Tsukune' who was walking back towards the security guards and apologizing for looking like he was stealing them. The boy looked like, acted like, and even sounded like Tsukune. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was Tsukune. The boy began explaining what happened and offered to pay for the merchandise he walked out with. However, they only wanted the items returned to the store.

"My name is Kenpachi Eiyu" Eiyu said to her as he handed the items he walked out of the store with to the security guards.

"Hey, I paid for those" Rangiku said before the guards started walking away "here's the receipt" showing them the slip.

The head security guard looked the receipt over before nodding to his subordinates and having them hand her the clothes. Rangiku smiled as she put the clothing into the shopping bag she had and waved at the guards as they walked off. That could've gone so much worse than it actually did.

"Look at the candy I got Chocolate-Hair!" Yachiru cheered as she opened the bag and showed him.

Eiyu's eyes widened. The bag was almost filled to the top with the sugary treats.

"I hope you're not going to eat all of it in one sitting" he said with a smile.

"I'm Kurumu" she said in a sad tone finally see that it wasn't Tsukune.

It hurt her to no end to realize that she was wrong about Eiyu being Tsukune; but she still hoped. He seemed to be similar to the human she loved; in looks and, from what she's seen so far, in personality. Maybe she could get to know him and possibly get over the emotional pain she felt from losing Tsukune.

Eiyu appeared in front of the succubus with a static like boom and gently wrapped his arms around her. He didn't have to remember her to not want to see her in emotional pain because of his death. If what Ghoul had said was true, then this girl, along with Mizore, were the two that accepted him for who he is and didn't try to push him away. That in its self was more than enough reason to give her a chance.

"He must have been special to you" he said softly as he felt Kurumu's arms wrap around his torso.

Kurumu started crying again; this was just how she wanted to be held by Tsukune. Yet it was some complete stranger that was too kind hearted to just leave; even after the awkward greeting she gave him. This person was indeed a lot like Tsukune.

"If you ever wanna talk about it" Rangiku said in a caring tone "we can over a drink."

Kurumu only nodded as she let go of Eiyu and looked at him. A part of her kept telling her that he was Tsukune, but he had just proven he wasn't; Tsukune was many things but as fast as Eiyu was not one of them. Either way though, just being held like Eiyu was holding her made her feel better. The warm feeling that Eiyu seemed to give off made her emotional turmoil begin to calm down. It was the best feeling she's had in a long time.

"I'm in room Three twenty-nine" Rangiku said.

"That's right down the hall from me" Kurumu said with a small smile.

"Come on" Yachiru said "turn that frown upside down" as she made the proper hand movements.

"Alright" the succubus said with a better smile.

Yukari had walked over to Eiyu at this point and gave him another hug; mainly because she wanted to. She felt stupid for making the mistake, but then again… none of their group had been thinking really clearly the past month. Not even their newest member, Kokoa, seemed to be at ease ever since Moka was hospitalized.

"Sorry for the mix up" Yukari said as she let go of him.

"It's no big deal" as he kneeled down and looked at her "like I said, you were the third person that made that mix up."

"Ya wanna play some time?" Yachiru asked the witch.

"Sure" she said back with a smile.

Yukari liked the idea of not being the youngest person at the Academy anymore. And now she wasn't! There was finally someone a year younger than she was when she started here. She was finally a superior to someone by means other than grade level.

"We need to get going" Rangiku said as her Soul Phone started to ring.

"See you around" Eiyu said as Yachiru jumped onto his shoulder and they quickly left the mall "is it a hollow?" he asked Rangiku.

It was weird timing for a hollow to be showing up all the sudden; then again, nothing was ever proper timing for one of the masked creatures to show up. They will show up whenever they chose to and they'd have to deal with it then. Hollows didn't have a schedule; other than the one controlled by their hunger that is. The only time that the hollows know is when it's time to eat; other than that, they only knew when it was time to fight.

"No" she said as she answered the phone "hello?"

"_Where are the three of you?"_ Eiyu heard Soifon ask her.

Soifon had to be in an extremely bad mood for him to be able to hear the taichou shouting over the phone into Rangiku's ear. Something must have happened to put her in the bad mood; knowing her dislike of Grimmjow, it was probably his fault. Since the Arrancar had no real regard for the rules or orders; it wouldn't be surprising. What would be surprising though would be if those two got along and agreed on something… that would be a scary day.

"We went to the mall" Rangiku answered.

"_Get back to the room; now!"_ she said in a serious tone.

"_Is that anyway to talk to someone over the phone?"_ a male voice said in a joking tone.

Rangiku recognized the voice and knew it was Urahara Kisuke; the one person Soifon hated to the very core of existence. Why; was always the question that never got answered. Some of the taichou suggested it was because of the closeness between him and Yoruichi, and she felt threatened that he would end up causing the Nekomusume to abandon her again. But the truth was anyone's guess really; the taichou of Second Division was so to herself that almost no one knew anything about her.

"_If you don't get away from me I'LL CASTERATE YOU WITH SUZUMEBACHI!"_ Soifon yelled at the man before the phone clicked.

"Am I missing something?" Eiyu asked.

"For now let's just say we need to hurry up and get back" as she put the phone up.

"Hold on then" as he grabbed Rangiku around the waist and used sonido to get to the room that Soifon mentioned.

When they appeared at the dorm Eiyu put Rangiku down and waited for her to regain her balance before they started heading in. She had never 'ridden' someone to go from one place to another that fast. If she would've had more time to get ready for the trip she wouldn't be as dizzy as she was now. Although it did make her feel a little good to have been held gently like that; it's been a long time since she was held like that…

She quickly deterred her thoughts from those times. The times when her and Ichimaru were together; when she thought that he would never betray the Seireitei. That was never the truth though; Aizen had recruited him since he graduated from the Shinigami Academy. He had planned on turning against the Gotei Thirteen for over a hundred years; as well as Toshen.

"Again!" Yachiru cheered from her spot on his shoulder.

"Maybe later Yachiru-chan" as they headed into the dorm building and to the room.

The trio walked into the dorm building and walked to the elevator to go up to the room. While Eiyu was curious as to how he would keep his cover from being blown now that he knew there were several that could identify him; he was more curious as to how he sensed the increase in reiatsu. He'd have to ask Soifon or Grimmjow about it; he wasn't sure who he'd ask first because if it was a shinigami ability he could ask Rangiku about it, if it was Arrancar he'd have to ask Grimmjow about it.

Yachiru unwrapped another piece of candy and started eating it. She smiled as the sour taste turned sweet while she chewed on the soft candy. It was just as good as she remembered it.

"Sorry we're late" Eiyu said as he walked in the door.

"No worry Aono-san" a man with a white and green striped hat said as he fanned himself "you weren't given a time to be here by."

"We're supposed to be undercover" Soifon said as a vein pulsed on her forehead "so call him Kenpachi Eiyu."

Grimmjow was leaning against a wall with a smug smile on his face and a couple hickies on his neck. Know he knew that he wasn't the only one that got under the 'flat-chested' taichou's, as he had often referred to her as, skin. Of course he wasn't too happy about being pulled away from the feline sensei in his room. They were right in the middle of a session when Soifon began pounding on his door; he was pissed. He was having a lot of fun with her; she did not look as flexible as she actually was.

"So sorry" he said casually "Eiyu-san. Yamamoto-sou-taichou asked me and Yoruichi to make a place for all of you to train without running the risk of blowing your cover. If you'll follow me I'll lead you to the area" with a smile as he walked out of the room.

"Eiyu" Grimmjow said "a fuku-taichou showed up lookin' for ya. She's in your room right now. I'll show you where this trainin' area is later;" with a smirk "go have some fun" he snickered as he walked out following the shinigami.

Eiyu just stood in the room confused; who would come looking for him? He really wasn't anything special, aside from the fact that he has Arrancar abilities on top of shinigami ones. He walked out of the room and locked it before heading to the exit so he could go to his room. The only fuku-taichou he knew were the Fourth Division's, Rangiku, Yachiru, and the Twelfth Division's… Nemu he remembered her name. Once he was outside he used sonido to head to his dorm room. It couldn't have been the Fourth Division's fuku-taichou; Fourth Division was too busy taking care of wounded. That only left Nemu, but why would she come to see him and risk getting smacked around by her so-called father.

As soon as he was outside of his room he pulled out his key and opened his door. To his surprise, his room was clean; he had left it a mess. He didn't bother to clean up the broken lamp, and his floor was in need of sweeping when he first got in it. He walked through the small walk way at the door and saw Nemu passed out on his bed; she looked like she had been asleep for a while. She looked peaceful as she slept; it was probably the only time she didn't have to worry about getting hurt by the taichou that claims to be her father.

A blush covered his face when he realized that her top was starting to show just as much of her breasts as Rangiku has exposed on a normal basis. Her nipples were barely covered by her kimono, her hair was a little messy, and yet… she looked beautiful. He didn't care what that crazy taichou said; she was a real person. He could remember how hurt she looked when Kurotsuchi-taichou said that she wasn't an actual person; that alone was enough to show she was an actual person.

"NEMU!" he heard from a device on his desk "YOU WORTHLESS GIRL; WHERE ARE YOU? DO YOU HAVE MY SAMPLES YET?"

Tsukune walked over to the device and picked it up. On the screen was Kurotsuchi-taichou; who looked furious, even more so when he saw Tsukune.

"She's…" he thought for a second and decided to lie to the taichou "she's in the process of getting them. Goodbye" as he clicked the device off before the taichou could say anything else.

He knew that the taichou was going to be pissed the next time he saw him. That was fine by him though; he knew that the taichou's Shikai couldn't affect him anymore and he was still getting stronger. If the painted taichou wanted to fight, he really wouldn't have a problem fighting back.

"Thank you; Aono-san" he heard Nemu say softly.

"It was nothing" he said back "what samples do you need?" with a smile as he turned around.

Come to find out Nemu hadn't adjusted her top at all and he got a full view of her boobs; the result was him getting a serious nose bleed. They looked firm, but at the same time soft. It was a _very_ good thing Ghoul wasn't in control right now; otherwise, he undoubtedly would play with the mounds of flesh.

"Could you fix your top please" as he wiped the blood from his face.

Nemu didn't ask questions, but it did feel nice to be asked to do something rather than ordered to do it. Although she didn't understand why he was asking her to cover herself up; she thought all guys wanted to see a woman's breasts. Then again, the Quincy wasn't too much different; he had gotten uncomfortable when she held him down so Mayuri could inject the antidote into him from being poisoned by accident when he released his bankai.

"I was told to get blood samples from you" she said as she finished adjusting "I need you to get out of your gigai" as she pulled out a needle and some viles.

Tsukune pulled out the Soul Badge from his pocket and tapped the skulled side on his chest. There was a slight pop sound as his spiritual body left the artificial one. It felt good to be out of the false body, being stuck in it for the past twenty four hours had caused some of his muscles to stiffen up; luckily he had patrol tonight so he could loosen back up then. Even if there won't be any Hollows to fight; it'd still let him use all his abilities and find out how much more he needed to work on his skills.

He carefully took Bloodriver from his sash and set her against the wall. The one thing he could never do was harm the one that allowed him to be strong; even if he was strong by himself, Bloodriver made him stronger. If it weren't for her, he was sure that he would now be a test subject for Nemu's taichou. She is the one that gave him strength beyond what he would be able to achieve on his own. Next he slid his arms out of the sleeves of his kimono and let the top fall till the sash stopped it.

Nemu looked at all the scars on Tsukune's torso; he looked like he had been in numerous fights with opponents that were stronger than himself. She doubted that he would tell her about them though; he didn't seem like the type to brag about a fight. As she inserted the needle into the blood vein in his right arm, she could see even more much smaller scars on his arms and the burn mark on his hand. She had never noticed it before, but it looked like it hurt when it happened.

"How did you get your scars?" she asked him as she started filling up the second vile.

"I can't remember" as he watched the vile fill up "but…" he hesitated.

He couldn't tell her that he had Ghoul within him. Only two people knew about Ghoul; luckily neither of which were going to say anything about him. Besides; if he told her then her taichou would eventually find out and then come after him to use him as an experiment.

"But I know that they're connected to this place;" as he looked out the window "several people recognize me. They knew about my past and I keep getting flashes of memory with different people in them. The only problem is that they come randomly *sigh* so I can't make sense of any of it; let alone piece them together."

Nemu listened as she looked at the darker than usual blood. It was about as dark as the blood Unohana-taichou wanted her to analyze for abnormalities. After she saw Tsukune for the first time, she understood why. He had abilities that shinigami shouldn't have; abilities that are the same as an Arrancar's. Not even the Vizoreds had Arrancar abilities; so Tsukune was in a league all on his own.

"You are unique" she said as she started to fill the last vile "I'm sure that you will figure out your past in time."

"Too bad that past involves a silver haired vampire" as he slid his kimono top back on.

-Training Area-

Grimmjow stood in the massive underground cave unable to believe the sight. It looked like a canyon with the massive rocks, a few trees, and even a small pool of water near the far end. How could two people have built this in only a few days; was the question he wanted answered.

"We modeled it after the one in the Seireitei" Urahara said "everything is an exact match to it. Even the pool at the far end;" with a smile as he fanned himself "I made sure that the water has the same healing properties as the one in the Seireitei."

Of course he had planned on making the water the same as the one in the Seireitei even before he knew who was going to make up the team. Had they sent someone from Fourth Division, the water would make it easier on that person. Unless of course that person would've been Orihime; then he would've wasted his time.

"It's so big" Yachiru giggled from the top of the largest rock in the middle of the cavern.

"Will anyone be able to sense our reiatsu in here?" Soifon asked as she looked around.

She had been to the one in the Seireitei before when Yoruichi was training her over a century ago. Its wide open space gave you plenty of room for a harsh training session or a full scale battle if you'd need to have one there. There was more than enough room to train Tsukune in hand-to-hand combat. She mentally smacked herself; since when did she start referring to her subordinates by their first name?

"Nope" Kisuke said proudly "that's what took us longer than we were expecting. We had to line the walls with Sekkiseki at certain areas so the concealment would be more than good enough to allow proper training without drawing attention here."

"I'm outa here" Grimmjow said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the exit "I got a chick I was bangin' before I was interrupted. I'll find Aono and show him how to get here after I finish what I started earlier" as he walked up the stairs.

-Later-

Tsukune sat outside on a tree branch of a tree he had heard called 'The Monster Tree'. It looked like the tree where he first met the pale skinned boy in his mind. This had to mean that this is the place that Ghoul said he had lost his humanity… He shook his head and forced those thoughts away. He was human, but he was unique; just as Nemu said. If he had truly lost his humanity he wouldn't be a shinigami but a Hollow bent on eating and fighting.

'_**Quit tryin ta fool yourself'**_ he heard Ghoul say _**'I know ya feel a hunger and thirst. And let's face it, you like fighting.'**_

While Ghoul had a point, he was wrong about him. Just because he felt a hunger and thirst didn't mean he was like Hollows; he wasn't sure what it meant yet though. But he could control it; given it took a little discipline, but he had it under control.

'_**If ya wanna learn about your past'**_ Ghoul chuckled _**'go back to the beginning. Go to where I nearly killed that bitch; that's where everything started.'**_

'_No'_ Tsukune said back _'I won't listen to you.'_

Tsukune got up, jumped down from the tree and started walking back to the school. There was no one like him here; no one that could teach him to control the pale skinned boy. Luckily though, Bloodriver was helping keep him in check. She was the sole person keeping him from being consumed by the darkness that lurks within his very soul. The darkness that seems to be the anger that _he_ never feels; the anger that never had an outlet of any sort.

-Tsukune's mindscape-

Ghoul couldn't help but to snicker at the way Tsukune kept questioning what he was. It was only a matter of time before the weakling weakened enough for him to take control without fear of what his neighbor would do as a result. Last time he took control by force… that was a mistake; he needed to somehow be allowed to take control. If he was allowed to have control, then his neighbor wouldn't be able to justify harming him.

"**This is gonna be interestin'"** he said to himself as he leaned against the cross on top of the bell tower.

-Nemu-

The fuku-taichou handed the viles over to Mayuri and started the machine that would analyze Tsukune's blood. It was a darker color than what normal blood looked like, but that could just be a higher iron count than normal. She couldn't stop thinking about the sadness in his eyes when he mentioned the silver haired vampire. There was something that he was hiding from everyone; something dark.

"My, my" Mayuri said "isn't this interesting" he snickered as he looked at the results of the blood tests.

Nemu looked at the screen and saw what her 'father' was talking about. The blood running through Tsukune's veins wasn't just his; unless he also had female DNA. It was like someone had injected him numerous times with the blood, and not just in small amounts; the blood in his veins contained about thirty percent female blood. And if that wasn't weird enough, the blood was altering his DNA. Changing it into something completely different; something unknown.

"Now I truly wish I would've just used bankai against him" Mayuri sighed as he began another test with the other samples.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou stayed behind in the new training area so she could loosen back up. She had never been in a gigai before and was surprised at how tense she got in only a day and a half. Of course she has never been on a Living World deployment where she had to use a gigai before, so her worrying about having their identities compromised only made it worse. Then there was also the fact that Tsukune's 'ghoul', as it identified itself as, was lying dormant for the time. If what he said was true, then there would be a large number of people that could identify Tsukune and blow his cover.

Again, she was referring to him by first name; something had to wrong with her. The only one she ever called by first name was Yoruichi. Maybe it was because Tsukune's ghoul was like she was before she made amice with Yoruichi. Full of anger and hate and only wanting to kill the one that was responsible for those feelings. She knew all too well what those feelings can do; if Yoruichi wouldn't had been there helping Kurosuki when he invaded the Seireitei to save Rukia then she surely would've been stuck on killing her mentor.

"Is something wrong Bee?" she heard a familiar voice ask her.

"Hai," she answered without turning around to see her "Yoruichi-sama; you were right about something dark being within Tsukune. It nearly killed someone when we were sent here on a reconnaissance mission. It looked like it was a Hollow, but it insisted that it wasn't. It said it wasn't human, Yokai, shinigami or even Hollow; but a ghoul."

Yoruichi chuckled inwardly at the fact that her pupil called someone by their first name. That was something she only did with her; so this was just another nail in the coffin for the petite taichou that she was going to use. It was going to be a lot of fun teasing her about this one; more fun than when she teased Soifon about liking Urahara. This was just perfect.

"Ghoul?" Yoruichi said "those are supposed to be forbidden from creating. How did he say he became one?"

"A vampire injected him with her blood."

Yoruichi shook her head; that was a selfish thing to do, not to mention extremely dangerous. If the one that was injected wasn't strong willed then the blood of the one that injected them would take over them. Thus, forever corrupting them; body and soul. The hunger that a ghoul feels rivals that of Hollows; not to mention far more dangerous. That hunger, as well as a thirst, would be felt by the one that was injected with the blood and could eventually become uncontrollable. It was worse than becoming a Hollow; simply because, not even a zanpakuto could cleanse the one cursed with that fate.

"I'll go talk to someone and see if they can help him" Yoruichi said as she walked towards the exit.

-Grimmjow-

The panther yawned as he stretched his arms and felt bare breast get pushed against his chest. The sand-blonde sensei was asleep again with a smile on her face. It made him feel extremely proud to be able to satisfy the Nekomusume twelve times in the past fifteen hours; personal best for him, it was a good thing that gigai sterilized reproductive cells while the spiritual body was in it. As much as he wanted to stay in bed with the female sensei, he had to get up and train Aono a little before he went on patrol.

"Can I get my arm back?" he asked as he tried to get up but Nekonome-sensei snuggled against his arm.

"But I'm comfy" she purred against him.

"Give me my arm back" as he pulled it away from her "I'm gonna go train Eiyu for a bit; if you wanna pick up where we left off later that's fine" as he got up and went to get dressed.

Nekonome-sensei also got up, but not to get dressed. She went and pinched his butt; which caught him completely off guard. When he turned around he had a full body shot of her. Wide hips that made her hourglass figure look much more defined, large and firm breasts that had enough give to them so he could tease her, and the small patch of well trimmed pubic hair over her vagina. The only thing he could do was let his body react to the view by getting a hard on.

He knew she was in heat, that's why she was so horny that she was dripping already. The smell of pheromones was making it harder for him to fight the urge to screw her brains out again. Of course, he wasn't known for resisting urges…

"You're a naughty little kitten aren't you" he said in a seductive tone as he pulled her closer to him and smacked her ass.

-Tsukune-

He pushed the code in the vending machine for a bottle of water as he thought about joining the Safety Committee. On the upside, he would be able to stay away from Moka as well as be able to go anywhere on campus. On the downside, he'd be working for someone that tried to kill him once. But right now, getting away from Moka seemed to be enough motive for him to over look the fact that he'd be working for the fox that nearly killed him.

He took a drink of water as he started walking. His thirst was a little unusual for only walking around the campus; and it wasn't like it was hot or anything. The temperature was actually quite enjoyable, warm enough to wear shorts but also cool enough so you'd be able to wear jeans if you wished to do so. The only thing that he would change would be the lack of clouds; all the direct sunlight was bound to give students sunburns if they weren't careful. A few clouds would be nice; it'd be great to just lay on the ground and watch clouds for an hour or so.

As he turned a corner, he nearly ran into Mizore, Kurumu, Yukari, Kokoa and Moka… This was bound to be bad; he was being nice to everyone and trying to completely avoid the S-rank vampire. He really didn't have a problem with the orange-red haired vampire, but it did hurt when she punched him in the face after he had saved her.

"Hello Eiyu" Mizore said to him as he put the cap back onto his water.

"Hey Mizore" with a smile "did you sleep well last night?"

To say that caused suspicion to arise would be like calling Moka powerful; it was obvious. Kurumu looked at her yuki-ona friend and couldn't help but to wonder how they knew each other; or what happened between the two last night. The illusionist was curious about a lot of things, but right now she wanted to know how they knew each other. Mizore wasn't there earlier when she nearly suffocated the Fraccion in her cleavage; so it had to be before that.

"Hai" with a small blush.

It was the best sleep she has had in a long time. She felt worry free as the legendary sandman took her into the unconscious realm of sleep. And she would never forget the peaceful dreams she had through the night. She was at her home village in the mountains with the Fraccion by her side and not even the snow priestess able to force her away from him.

"How do you two know each other?" Kurumu asked.

"We met yesterday" Eiyu said "then she joined me, Rangiku-chan and Yachiru-chan when we went to the club."

'_**Should've fucked her'**_ Ghoul said to him.

Leave it to Ghoul to mess with him at a time like this. He was surrounded by the same girls that were around him when he was alive and Ghoul's mind was on _that_.

"I need to get going" Eiyu said as he took another drink of his water and started to leave "I have some stuff I need to take care of before tonight."

A lie but the truth all at the same time. He wanted to ask Grimmjow about what happened earlier to see if the Arrancar could teach him to utilize the ability more, or if he'd have to ask Soifon to teach him. He also wanted to get away from the S-rank vampire that looked like she was leering at him.

"See ya around" Mizore said.

"Bye Eiyu" Kurumu and Yukari said.

He disappeared with his signature static like boom; he didn't want Moka following him around again like she did yesterday. Luck, that's what he considered it, is what allowed him to cut the conversation short and leave before she tried to talk to him. For some odd reason, it hurt him to be avoiding her like he was; he was in control, not Ghoul so there should be no reason for him to be doing this. Then again there was; she could identify him the easiest if she caught a whiff of his blood.

"I'm gonna kick him in the face the next time I see him" Kokoa spat as she stormed off.

If it wasn't enough that he ignored her Onee-sama; he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he's the one that put Moka in the hospital. He kept flaunting his abilities around and didn't know his place. If her Onee-sama wasn't going to show him where his place was, then she would; one way or another.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Tsukune looked outside and saw that the sun was now completely set. It was time for him to go on patrol, but he had to let Soifon know he was starting his shift first. Once he checked in though, he'd be able to look around the campus and get to know the lay out better. Then he'd be able to accept the Head of the Safety Committtee's offer in joining them. He had thought about it and figured it would be the best way to be away from the S-rank vampire, have free reign on the campus to look around and see what would trigger a memory, and he'd be able to purify Hollows.

He took out his Soul Badge and tapped it against his chest; with a pop, his spiritual body left the artificial one. He wished he had one of those Soul Candies; just leaving his gigai laying in his bed would cause someone to panic if they came into his room and saw it just laying there. It would blow his cover when he got back into it; the thing looked dead without him in it. He walked over to his door and locked the dead bolt; this made sure that no one would be able to enter his room without him being there.

He walked over to the window and opened it.

"Uh…" as he looked down the five story drop "how am I supposed to get down?"

Grimmjow had taught him how to sense reiatsu earlier, but he still didn't know how to do a lot of things. One such skill was condensing spirit particles underneath his feet so he could 'fly' through the air. He wasn't too comfortable with heights though…

-Soifon-

She was currently ridiculing herself for referring to a subordinate by first name; she didn't even to that with her peers! Yet a boy she had just met managed to cause her to have a slip of the tongue. So he was good at following orders, was unnaturally strong for his level of training and even gave her a reason to get rid of her lard ass former fuku-taichou; but this wasn't normal for her.

'_Keep telling yourself reasons to like him'_ Suzumebachi said to her.

The bee-like zanpakuto couldn't help but to laugh at the way her wielder was feeling about the boy she had knocked out the first time they were here. With how badly the taichou was questioning the feeling, her reiatsu was slowly getting out of hand. While funny to see her like this, it was also the perfect chance for her to finally get laid. It wouldn't be too hard to convince the boy to do it; after all, he did fight against the lard ass to see Soifon.

'_I'm his superior'_ Soifon said back trying to convince her zanpakuto that it wouldn't happen.

Yes she was his superior, but he wasn't officially put into a Division just yet; so technically he is fair game… No, she couldn't think like that; she was a Taichou and was to act as one of that rank was expected to act. Professional, that is what she had to be regardless of feelings she _MIGHT_ have. Besides, why would he be interested in her? She wasn't as developed as other female shinigami and was cold towards just about everyone. She even knocked him out with one hit; but that wasn't too out of character for her to knock out subordinates while training them.

But that look his eyes had when she knocked him out; they looked angry, hurt, and lusting for revenge. They showed he wanted to seriously kill the vampire she had saved. Yet when he looked at her… they seemed different, almost like the way Yoruichi looks at her. They were softer; at least till her began to refer to the vampire again, then they filled back with anger and hate.

'_If you aren't interested in him then why did you call him by first name?'_ the zanpakuto asked.

She had decided to try something Soifon's precious Yoruichi-sama did all the time; teasing. It always got a reaction for the chocolate skinned Nekomusume, so it should get a reaction for her as well. Which she did; Soifon immediately turned bright red.

'_It was only a slip up'_ she said in a hushed tone.

'_Then I guess you're losing your touch'_ the bee-like zanpakuto continued _'one slip up a year is rare for you; yet you had three in ONE DAY!'_

The zanpakuto spirit was starting to see why Yoruichi did this, it was fun. Soifon's reactions were always entertaining; turning red and arguing as to why it wasn't possible. But this time, she couldn't argue against it; it was hilarious! The zanpakuto was laughing so hard her gut was starting to hurt.

'_Oddities happen'_ the petite taichou said as she changed into her pajamas.

'_You mean like you asking Yoruichi for help with Tsukune's 'ghoul'?'_ she laughed.

Soifon immediately halted putting on her top when she heard that; she even felt her blush grow from her face down her chest. This was truly out of character for her; she was caring about a subordinate! She never learned subordinates, let alone cared about them. Was she really attracted to him?

'_Come on'_ Suzumebachi said _'you've always cast everyone away from you. Get to know him; you never know if your conversation could lead to the bed'_ she giggled.

'_It's not that simple'_ ignoring the last comment.

'_Sure it is; you just go up to him, order him to screw you and do some pillow talk with each other afterwards.'_

Soifon could not believe what she was hearing. If her zanpakuto was saying this; then that meant, because a zanpakuto is a mirror of the wielder's personality, she more than likely wanted to. There was only one way to stop this conversation…

"I AM NOT HAVING THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU!" she shouted out loud.

"I'll… just go on patrol then…" she heard Tsukune say before she heard a static like boom.

Her entire body turned red at that moment; she had just completely embarrassed herself in front of a subordinate. Not just any subordinate either, the only one she _might_, as she keeps trying to convince herself, have feelings for. It only could've been worse if Yoruichi was there with him… Soifon just got into her bed and pulled the covers over her head to hide from the world. Suzumebachi couldn't breathe because she was laughing so hard.

Xxx

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long; college takes priority…

Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Comments]  
Since no one asked any questions I assume that everyone understands what is going on. As for the lack of reviews for the previous chapter… please don't make me threaten to discontinue this story; I'm enjoying writing it.

On with the story,  
Demon

xxxx

Tsukune slashed through a Hollow before he sheathed his zanpakuto; the crescent moon barely lit the night sky. It was the third one he had come across that night; why the Safety Committee didn't have night patrols was a mystery to him. Or they could have them, but he just hadn't come across them yet. Which one was anyone's guess, since he's been out on patrol for three hours and hasn't seen anyone else. The number of Hollows wasn't too surprising to him though; after all, with how dense the air was with spirit particles he could be seen by anyone when out of his gigai.

When he joined the Safety Committee, he'd make sure that they had a night patrol; or he'd do it himself. He was more than capable of doing it on his own; his taichou must have thought so too to put him on patrol on his own. And if the Safety Committee was indeed made up of the strongest Yokai at the Academy, then they shouldn't have a problem handling the Hollows either.

One thing he didn't understand though was why the vampire he was avoiding wasn't a part of the Committee. According to the book he borrowed from the library, she was an S-rank vampire; which is supposed to be extremely rare and powerful… then why was he able to nearly kill her so easily? He was able to toss her around like she was nothing; yet she was supposed to be this extremely powerful vampire… was she truly that weak; or was he truly that strong?

He sensed someone nearby so he took cover behind a tree and waited. If it was a Safety Committee member then he'd be able to show them what he was able to do and look more believable when he told them his skills. His sword skills needed work, as well as his hand-to-hand combat but he was sure he was still strong enough to make up for the areas he's lacking right now. Besides, he saw a flier for a Kendo Club and a Karate Club; he'd join them to help speed up his training.

If it wasn't, then he'd have to stay hidden and keep from blowing his cover again. Soifon was still mad at him for nearly killing the S-rank vampire when they were first here. Or at least that's the impression he got from her; she hardly ever called him by name, first or last, and she also shouted at him before he could even say anything. But that was probably needed since he had appeared at the window when she started to put her pajamas on; the thought made him blush violently. Her slim, but well toned figure looked amazing with how the desk lamp's light hit her; plus with how she had her hair done, it made her look beautiful. He quickly shook his head and set those thoughts aside for when he wasn't on patrol or potentially having his life in danger.

The wind picked up a little and he heard some rustling from the small patches of dead grass around the trees. That's when he caught an odd scent, something that he could only come up with one word for; sunflowers… Why was this so familiar to him? He wanted to take a peek around the trunk of the tree, but he didn't want to alert whomever the scent belonged to. The scent continued to linger and eventually he got mental images of a large field of sunflowers with a small house in the middle of it; but nothing else was with the image.

-Ruby-

She had heard a howl from a Hollow and went to exterminate it. The Head Master had told her of the creatures when they first made appearance on the academy grounds. They are creatures cursed by the emptiness of their hearts that will eat anything in order to fill that void. Deep down she felt sorrow for those souls that couldn't move on; they would never find peace except by being slain. It was only then would the soul be able to find peace and amice for what it had done.

As she drew closer to where she heard the howl come from she hoped that her most precious person wasn't cursed with that fate. He was a better person than anyone she knew; even herself. He was willing to die to protect people, whereas her heart was once filled with hatred towards his kind and wanted to do nothing more than kill humans before she met him. Then, with just one night, she began to question that deep seated hate. The human, that was beating the odds and living amongst Yokai on his own free will, had showed her that not all humans are like the drunk driver that killed her parents.

She heard a sound that resembled a metal click. She quickly scanned the area without stopping; if there was a Hollow here, then it would attack her when she would be least expecting it. Letting her guard down would be the worst thing to do at a moment like this; she had no one to aide her should she need the assistance. Of course she had the trees and plants around her that allowed her to sense if something were try to sneak up behind her; this was an ability she developed shortly after her first encounter with one of the masked creatures. It worked a little like sonar did, alerting her to any oddities in Nature's Energy around her. Of course, it didn't just work for sensing those behind her but in front as well…

She noticed the shadow behind a tree before she felt the different energy from behind it. It had taken her a full week to get her detection ability down right. When she first tried it, she found out that Hollows could mask their Youki and still ambush her from behind; it nearly cost her her life if it weren't for Moka being with her at the time. It was also Moka whom she owed thanks to for coming up with the idea of using Nature's Energy like sonar; vampires naturally detect Youki in a similar manner, so she now pulled in a little of Nature's Energy and feel the difference between the Natural and the Supernatural.

As she continued to get closer to the tree that something was hiding behind, she saw the shadow move so the owner were to stay out of her line of sight. Whatever owned the shadow was clearly smarter than the Hollows she had fought over the past month, month and a half. Then again, she didn't need to see the owner to entwine it in vines from the very tree that it sought refuge at.

-Tsukune-

He quietly shifted as he heard the sunflower scented one move closer to him. If he stayed out of that person's sight then maybe they wouldn't have a confrontation on their hands. If it was a Hollow though, he'd be able to slay it quickly and then not have to worry about it. Right now he was wishing that he could tell the difference between Hollow and non-Hollow reiatsu; as well as how to conceal his own better. If whomever it was that he was sensing could detect reiatsu, then his hiding spot was for nothing. There was a weird sound; like something was moving unnaturally…

When he carefully glanced over his shoulder, he saw vines moving towards him in an attempt to entwine him. His reaction was instinctual as he moved away from them as quickly as he could. Whoever owned the sunflower scent was a Kido user, but Rangiku never mentioned any Kido spells that involved tree vines… It had to be something other than that; he cursed himself for not reading the book he borrowed faster. If he did he'd know what he's up against.

Clouds passed over head as he drew Bloodriver and slashed at another set of vines that were coming at him. Now he really wished he knew how to condense spirit particles under his feet so he could get the height advantage against this mysterious opponent. He knew that it was a woman because of her long hair and hourglass figure; other than that though, he was clueless about her. She was very skilled in Kido though, she never said any incantations to be able to manipulate the vines like she was.

Ruby was watching the mysterious person slash the vines she was using away from him. He didn't look like the Hollow she had faced before, but she knew that they varied in looks. One that looked 'human' didn't sound like it'd be out of the ordinary for the Supernatural creatures; she had faced one that looked like a large raven even. But this one was different though, none of the other Hollows had a sword; just talons, claws, and other various appendages that resembled weapons.

Luckily though, she had spent much of the time between the school year growing the carnivorous plants like that which protected the Witch's Knoll. She also took the liberty of planting them around the school, but being careful to keep from putting them in high traffic areas where students tended to hang out. The last thing she needed was to have the students being attacked by her plants as well as the Hollows.

She quickly made the two dozen carnivorous plants come up from the ground and attack the creature she was fighting. It took her three days before she managed to find out how Mistress Oyakata was able to control them on the level she did. It was an extremely complex fertilizer that consisted of rare ingredients as well as a little blood from the one that wished to control them. It was a good thing that the Head Master had given her such good funding for her projects that could benefit the Academy; just one of the ingredients would've been enough to take up three months' worth of her paychecks.

The carnivorous plants quickly charged at the boy and slashed his chest. He let out a grunt of pain right before he vanished with a static like boom and sliced through six of the plants with ease. Their purple blood dripped from his blade and onto the ground as he continued to fight the plants with ease. His movements were fluid and not wasted; he'd follow up from his swing with his blade and smash his fist into the next plant's face.

Tsukune pushed off one of the plants and launched himself into the air so he could use Kido without being interrupted during the incantation. Out of the two dozen that had showed up, he had only slain seven or eight. It was a slow process since he'd no more make a wound in them and they'd heal just as quickly as the cut was made. These things just wouldn't stay down, but he had to keep fighting them; even if it was just to make an opening so he could retreat.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march to the south!" as he held out his hand and the red orb began to form "Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"

He launched the orb into the center of the plants and watched the explosion take out three upon impact and another two from catching fire. Now he only had half of the odd plants left to take care of. At this rate, he'd be able to take on the mysterious Kido user without having to worry about anything interfering with their fight. She probably wasn't skilled at fighting close up, which would explain why she was so good at Kido.

Ruby watched as the person she was fighting sliced though a carnivorous plant on his way down from the sky. It was hard for her to understand how a Hollow could speak _and_ use magic like it did. Not only that, but she didn't even recognize the incantation for the spell that he used. The way that he was fighting was also unusual; it was graceful but vicious at the same time. It was like watching the Black and White Duet, as well as Moka, fight as one entity; this was _highly_ unusual.

Before she realized it, her opponent was right above her coming down with his fist to knock her out. She didn't notice that he had sliced through the last of her plants that quickly; she was expecting to see him on the ground from injuries. Yet, not only was he still standing, but he wasn't bleeding at all. Her plants hadn't done any noticeable damage to the boy; how was that possible? They had cut into him; his kimono was pretty cut up. Things just weren't adding up…

She quickly sprouted her raven-like wings and moved out of the way of the attacking boy. When she looked back to make sure he wasn't still pursuing her, she was glad she moved as quickly as she did; his fist went straight into the ground and caused a small hole to form. The clouds that covered the moon were making it hard for her to eliminate the opponent. With him being dressing in a black kimono he was already hard to see in the night, but without the light from the moon… it was next to impossible. The only thing that had saved her was her newest ability; but even that took a certain level of focus to use it since she wasn't proficient with it yet.

"Ye lord" she heard him start to say the incantation.

It didn't take a genius to know that without the ability to speak one couldn't use spells of any sort. Even if one could, it wouldn't be as powerful as casting it with the incantation. She quickly made vines come out of the ground from around the boy and finally managed to entwine him. The first thing she made sure to do was to gag him so he couldn't use any spells against her. Sure she was proficient enough with magic to be able to stand her ground against just about anything that this person could throw at her, but maintaining the advantage was important.

Tsukune struggled to get free as more and more vines wrapped around his body and caused him to fall to the ground. Had he kept moving he wouldn't be in this situation. He was more than fast enough to appear in front of the woman he was fighting against; his lack of experience was taking its toll on him. First with the Hollow he fought when he got his zanpakuto, then when he was in the Emergency Taichou Meeting, after that is was his fight with Kurotsuchi-taichou, and now this.

The vines kept getting tighter to ensure that he couldn't even try to escape from them; as well as trying to get him to let go of Bloodriver, but that wasn't going to happen. He down-right refused to let go of Bloodriver. He felt more vines wrap around his legs and pin him to the ground; or so he thought. The vines picked him up and held him upside down.

Ruby let out a silent sigh of relief as she watched the vines hold up the one she was fighting. Now she'd be able to kill him and go back to her room for some much needed sleep. Ever since Tsukune's death, she really hasn't gotten much sleep; and it wasn't because of the Hollows that were always showing up at all hours of the night either. It was because she couldn't get a horrible image out of her head; Tsukune as one of those Hollows. She had accepted Tsukune's death about a week after he died, but once the Hollows started showing up she couldn't help but to hope that Tsukune wasn't amongst them.

The figure continued to struggle to get free as she stepped closer to him. She built up an orb of Nature's Energy at the jewel of her wand; with Nature's Energy being one of the purest things in the world it would cleanse the Hollow and allow it to move on. The only downside to doing it like this was she had to make the hit count; the only way to guarantee that was a pointblank hit to the mask that covered the face. It was the hardest part of fighting the creatures, but she thought of it as saving the soul rather than killing it; which made it a little easier for her.

"I hope you find peace in the haven that you go to" she said as she walked around her opponent to blast him with the orb.

She lifted her wand to her opponent's face and her eyes widened at what she saw. She couldn't believe her eyes. The one she had been fighting was none other than the one that was most precious to her. Had she known, she wouldn't have attacked him.

"Tsu…Tsukune?"

Tsukune couldn't believe this; another person that knew him. What made it worse was the fact that he wasn't in his gigai; so he couldn't try to lie his way out of this like he did with everyone else. He felt the vines begin to sag slightly as his body got closer to the ground; she was releasing him from the vines…

"This isn't how I pictured us being alone" she said with a blush as the vines unraveled themselves from her deceased friend "it's backwards."

She was the one that wanted to be tied up by Tsukune. It was one of her guilty pleasures; she was a masochist, it was as simple as that. The one thing she wanted more than anything was for Tsukune to cause the pain that she gets off on. Now that she knows he's not one of the Hollows that are attacking the academy, that fetish might become a reality for her.

"Who are you?" Tsukune asked her as he sheathed Bloodriver.

Or maybe not…

"I'm Ruby" she said as she stepped closer to him "it was you who saved me from the darkness of my very heart when you went to the Witch's Knoll last year with the Newspaper Club."

Tsukune's mind showed him images of the sunflower field again; only this time there were a large number of the same creatures she had summoned to fight him. Thousands upon thousands that were attacking him and the girls he had met earlier that day. They were protecting him from those creatures; was he truly that weak when he was alive?

He shook his head as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The vampire he was avoiding had once fought to protect him; why and why did Ghoul want to kill her? When did she supposedly take his humanity from him? When did she inject him with her blood?

"Tsukune?" Ruby asked as she saw the uneasiness on his face.

"I don't remember…" he said to her "and what I can remember doesn't make sense" as he took a step back.

"Please," in a gentle tone "let me help you."

She reached into the bag she had with her that had herbs and other various items in it. But the one thing she always carried with her, was the can of juice that he had given her when they first met. She had attacked him and his friends and got knocked out; when she came to, she tried to attack them again, but was stopped by the can of juice being held in front of her. Since that day, she could never forget the kindness the human had shown her. The kindness that every human had somewhere in their hearts.

Tsukune rested his hand on his zanpakuto; not knowing what to expect when she withdrew her hand from the bag at her side. It could be anything, and he didn't want to risk being caught off guard. Either way though, he was caught off guard when Ruby pulled out a crushed can that once held juice in it.

"You gave me this when we first met" as she held it out for him to take "but it wasn't in this bad of a condition when you gave it to me."

Tsukune cautiously reached his hand out to take the crushed can from his opponent. She was so good with Kido that she didn't need to use incantations or anything to cast the spell. It wouldn't be hard for her to blindside him with another spell; yet he doubted she would do that. If she was going to do that, then why did she let him down from the vines she had him in?

"Did you pass right over;" Ruby asked "or did it take you a while?"

"I don't remember" as he looked at the can.

-The Next Morning-

Eiyu rushed to put his shirt on and get out the door to get to class; he had slept longer than he was expecting. If Yachiru hadn't gotten into his room and waken him up, he'd still be asleep. How the tiny fuku-taichou got into his room was a mystery to him; his door was locked and he was on the fifth floor… a part of him told him he didn't want to know.

He quickly locked the door and sprinted to the stairs. Yachiru seemed to be enjoying herself… she jumped onto his shoulder as soon as he locked the door. The pink haired child was more like a sister to him every day; first with Mizore, then yesterday when she showed him how much candy she had gotten, and now laughing at the fact that he was running late and not at all bothered by the fact that she was too.

He used sonido to get to the bottom of the stairwell, quickly got out the door and used sonido again to get to his class room. After his fight with Ruby turned into her trying to help him remember his life they had lost track of time and it was about three in the morning before they knew it. It probably didn't help that Ruby was trying to get him to harm her… she really didn't seem right in the head. Yeah, she seemed nice; but she had a weird perverted side to her…

"Turn left" Yachiru said as Eiyu continued to head towards the mansion.

"But the school's in front of us" he said as he picked up his speed a little.

He knew where their homeroom was; he had found it yesterday while walking around before he sat in the Monster Tree. Ikkaku had warned him about Yachiru's bad sense of direction and to stick to the course he choice and not let the pinkette sway him. Too many times had she gotten them lost when they were trying to do something important.

They turned the corner at nearly top speed; luckily Eiyu kept enough control to keep from smashing into the wall as he did so. Just one more thing he learned from Grimmjow when he was teaching him how to use sonido. High speed turns are extremely dangerous if you can't maintain control of your body when you do it. It wasn't as simple as planting one foot down and quickly changing direction, he should know he tried three times before he caught on to that fact. He had to do a sort of skid as he rounded corners to keep from flipping over himself while he did so.

"Sorry I'm late" he said as he slid the door to his class open "I over slept."

He looked up and saw Ririko-sensei standing at the front of the class and looking slightly annoyed at the fact that he's late. She hated when students were late to class; more than often she made them come to one of her tutoring sessions. It didn't strike her about who he looked like till he stood up all the way and rubbed the back of his head. It looked like Tsukune…

Eiyu walked into the room, Yachiru still on his shoulder, and introduced himself to the sensei. Of course the one thing he didn't notice was a certain orange haired vampire sitting near the back of the classroom that over heard his name… Kokoa quickly got up and started running towards him to kick him in the face; just like she said she would. Eiyu heard the footsteps and looked to see the furious vampire running at him. She jumped up and kicked him with both feet right in the middle of his face.

She smiled evilly as Eiyu was sent backwards into the blackboard head first. And snickered when he bounced off the blackboard and on to the ground; leaving a nasty knot on the back of his head. If he was supposedly being trained by a panther demon and couldn't even block that, then his alleged species was pathetically weak.

"Weakling!" she spat at him as he started to get back up.

"Ouch" he said as he rubbed his face "that hurt."

He really should've seen that one coming from the short tempered vampire; after all, she did punch him in the face after he saved her from a Hollow.

"You ok Chocolate-Hair?" Yachiru asked from a few feet away from him.

Kokoa's eyes widened when she saw that the pink haired girl wasn't on his back anymore. Her entire attack played back in her head; she had attacked so full of anger that she didn't notice that he quickly used his left arm to push the girl off his back to keep her from getting hurt. If he was fast enough to shuck the girl that was on his back off, then why didn't he just move out of the way and let her completely miss? Did he not want to have her embarrass herself; or was he simply that concerned about the girl?

"Shuzen-san" Ririko-sensei said with an angry tone "detention for a week."

Kokoa felt fear fill her; she had heard stories about this sensei's detentions. They were more like torture sessions that never ended…

"It's alright" Eiyu said "I had it coming" with a slight laugh "I was rude to her yesterday; and I know how proud vampires can be. Haha" as he rubbed the back of his head.

-Gym class later-

Eiyu stood amongst his classmates and waited for their sensei to get there from wherever they were at. He was surprised that Soifon wasn't there already; she was normally serious about being early to important things like this. He wondered if it had anything to do with last night… she did seem pretty upset with him for some reason; why, he couldn't explain. Although he did have an idea; a few of them… That really wasn't his concern right now though; his concern was the two vampires that happened to be in his class. Kokoa was in his class; Moka was in another gym class that happened to be at the same time he was in his.

"I don't care what species you are" they heard a male voice say "hell, I really don't give a shit what your names are. If you're in my class, you better not expect any sympathy from me" Grimmjow continued as he got closer to the large group of students.

"Hello Grimmjow-sama" Eiyu said.

Fear immediately filled the students. If their sensei was the demon that Eiyu served, then that meant that he was a panther demon and was not to be trifled with. It also meant that they were bound to have one hell of a workout schedule for the semester; if they survived then it'd be a miracle for them. However, something told them that they would ride that fine line for the entire semester; it was in their sensei's eyes.

"He can't be too tough" Kokoa spat "I kicked the Fraccion's ass earlier."

There was a static like boom behind her as soon as she finished her sentence; there was also a powerful Youki coming from behind her. Grimmjow was one that absolutely hated when someone spoke down to him; so now he'd be able to show these students he wasn't to be. He grabbed the small vampire by her shirt and lifted her up so he could look her in the eyes. The fear that she was filled with was visible and he liked that; it meant that he had gotten his point across quickly.

"You wanna say that again" he said "I couldn't hear you from way over there" as he pointed to where he was once standing.

Kokoa felt her body begin to fill with adrenaline as her fight or flight instinct began to take hold of her. The sensei's eyes showed that he would kill her without a second thought or any hesitation what-so-ever. It was a look she had only seen in the creatures she hunted down to test her strength, but this time was different; this time she felt so much weaker compared to the sensei.

"Put my sister down" Moka ordered "NOW!"

No one threatened her little sister and got away with it; absolutely no one. She flared her Youki to show that she was serious about her order; even if it meant fighting a sensei, she would protect her sister. The only reason she didn't go with her sister when she went hunting for those masked creatures was because she asked her not to; but even then, she still followed just in case.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" Grimmjow asked.

Eiyu quickly used sonido to get between Grimmjow and Moka. The last thing he wanted was for their cover to get blown already; there were too many near misses already. Luckily Ruby said she'd keep his identity a secret; so he didn't have to worry about that. But there was still the fact that this vampire was familiar with what his blood smelled and tasted like; so it wouldn't take much to blow it around her.

"Please don't degrade yourself by fighting them; Grimmjow-sama" Eiyu said as he gave Moka an evil look and flared his reiatsu a little "they aren't worth it."

He knew he was strong enough to fight the S-rank vampire if it came to that; given he didn't want to, but he had to maintain the appearance of a Fraccion and stand between whoever threatened his 'master'. Images of what happened to her last time they had a fight flashed in his mind; he mentally shook them away. He wouldn't be that cruel to her, he would only beat her to get the point across and leave it at that; he had no desire to kill her.

"That's enough from all of you" he heard Soifon say in her usual serious tone.

Eiyu walked away from in front of the vampire and back over to his class. He was already on bad terms with his taichou and didn't want them to get any worse. The only problem was that he didn't know how to make them better… besides, he didn't know enough about her to know where to even start in trying to make it up to her. He didn't want to try either; if he messed up, it would only make the situation worse.

"Please forgive my actions" he said to Soifon without looking her in the eyes.

"It's not my place to bestow punishment onto you;" as she walked away from him "however, meet me here after your last class of the day."

-Later that day-

Soifon's feet were killing her; she officially loathed the tennis shoes she was wearing. She was used to the Chinese style slippers that she wears with her shinigami uniform; they at least allowed her feet to breath. Yes she was used to being on her feet all day, but that was when she spent the entire day training the recruits that thought they'd make the cut for Second Division. Fourth Division tends to dislike those days, and with very good reason; they get so backed up from just that single day that six months later they're barely caught up on the paperwork before it happens again.

Of course, her day still wasn't done… she still had to meet with Tsuk… Aono. She managed to catch herself that time; Suzumebachi wouldn't let it go if she made that slip up again. For some odd reason the zanpakuto spirit has taken a liking to teasing her like Yoruichi would; it was a little annoying. At least with Yoruichi she could walk away if she needed to; with Suzumebachi she couldn't.

"Soifon-sensei" she heard behind her "sorry if I'm late. Yachiru-chan insisted on getting something to eat."

She let out a sigh; while she would've hated the thought of a subordinate disobeying a direct order, she wished he wouldn't have showed up. There was no part of her that wanted to explain what happened last night; no part of her _at all_! She fell asleep embarrassed, woke up embarrassed, and was still embarrassed about it. Not only did she completely embarrass herself, but she didn't even know he was there until he said something; she was so distracted by her conversation with Suzumebachi she couldn't hear his sonido.

"You're actually earlier than I was expecting" as she turned around to face him.

This was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation for her; of course why she felt inclined to explain last night was a mystery to her. She was a taichou, he was a subordinate; that simple, but she still felt like she had to. Damn, maybe Yoruichi was right; maybe she was interested in him. This was extremely out of the ordinary for her; normally she'd just glare at someone that addressed her, but with Tsukune she couldn't.

'_Slip up number four'_ Suzumebachi giggled to her wielder.

A vein pulse on Soifon's forehead as she realized that there was no way to get her zanpakuto to leave her alone. With Yoruichi it was one thing, but with Suzumebachi it was a complete nightmare. The bee like zanpakuto-spirit knew how to push her buttons even better than Yoruichi. However, she knew that her zanpakuto was right; and the sooner she got it out of her system the sooner she could stop being distracted by it. There was one question that she wanted answered though; just how the hell did these feelings start manifesting in her?

It started when she offered to teach him how to fight properly… She had seen his potential and knew that it could grow into something that would rival that of her third seat's abilities. If he could be that strong then he'd eventually be at taichou level in his skills; if he wasn't already in at least reiatsu. She felt him flare his reiatsu when he was in front of the vampire that Ghoul had tried to kill; it was about at a fifth seat's level already. If he continued at this rate, then he'd eventually be stronger than even Kurosuki is rumored to be.

Eiyu saw the vein on his sensei's forehead pulse; something told him he was not going to be in very good shape after this 'conversation'. Just one more thing he screwed up on; well might as well get whatever punishment he was going to get over with.

"If this is about last night" he said while fighting a blush "I just wanted to tell you…"

He was hesitating now. He was afraid of getting the daylights beat out of him for telling her that he accidently saw her changing. While she looked extremely good, he should've quickly looked away when he saw she was half naked. Plus with the way the desk lamp's light hit her he could see just how defined her muscles were. Some would see that as a threat, but he liked it. He felt himself fail at fighting the blush when he thought of how good she looked last night.

Soifon saw the blush and started to worry that he was going to mention her little outburst that wasn't directed at him. It was a mistake that it was out loud and not retained in her head; where it was meant to be. She just couldn't hold her anger in any longer and it slipped. Number five; she sighed, that was another slip up for her. Why was this boy getting to her like this?

"Well…" he tried to continue "I… uh… didn't see anything…" as he looked away and blushed even more.

"What?" she said in a venomous tone.

"I showed up when you where putting your pajamas on and kind of… saw you… getting dressed" as he felt his blush get even worse.

While she was pissed that he watched her get dressed, it really didn't bother her too much… Although it was a mystery as to why; normally if anyone happened to even knock on the door of her personal quarters when she was changing she'd light them up like a match. A part of her wanted to knock him into the next week for doing that. The other part wanted to ask something that she knew Yoruichi would never stop picking at her about; if he liked what he saw.

"While I admire your integrity for telling me that" she said with a slight blush "that wasn't what I wanted to speak with you about."

Tsukune looked at the taichou with slight confusion; she was blushing… Why would she be blushing and not beating him into next week. This was really weird to him; the petite taichou gave the vibe that she would nearly kill you if you tried to peep on her. Maybe she was giving him a pass since he confessed immediately; or maybe it was something else…

"Then what did you want to talk to me about?" trying to ignore his confusion.

He was not making this easy on her; or at least that's what Soifon thought as she continued the conversation with the subordinate.

"My outburst last night" she began "I assume you thought that was directed at you. Though I wish to assure you that it wasn't; your timing was just bad. I was having a conversation with my zanpakuto spirit and lost control of my temper. My outburst was meant for my zanpakuto, not you" as she looked at Tsukune.

'_Six'_ Suzumebachi said.

"I understand" Tsukune said "I'm sorry for thinking you're mad at me."

-Yoruichi-

The heiress of the Shihoin family walked down the alley to where she was going. The Visoreds might've been given a pass of pardon back into the Soul Society, but they still didn't trust Central Forty-six. Which was understandable seeing how they had ordered them to be executed as if they were Hollows despite the fact that Urahara had stabilized their change. It wasn't till after they helped defeat Aizen that the order for them to be executed had been revoked. Clearly the new Central Forty-six had more intelligence than the one that Aizen had assassinated.

Ever since Ichigo had joined the ranks of the Gotei Thirteen, the Visoreds have been protecting Karakura Town in his absence. They didn't complain, it kept them busy and allowed them to help the town they had been hiding in for the past hundred years. Although, she's heard that one particular member had been complaining about the lack of a challenge lately. Of course, said person didn't know about the civil war that was going on in Hueco Mundo that the moment.

In the civil war that was going on, those Hollow that could even possibly give the Visoreds a challenge were leading attacks on Los Noches. Nothing like a seat of power to distract Hollow from the world of the living. They were so caught up with trying to get into that seat that they didn't realize that it would take a Vasto-Lorde level Hollow to even be a threat to the capital of the Hollow world. With just Ichigo there, the capital was safe from any Hollow up to Adjuchas class; and with the Arrancar that once served Aizen, it would take a Vasto-Lorde Arrancar to be able to take control.

She heard the sound of jazz music playing from one of the buildings; Shinji always did love jazz. His love for the easy beat music started when he was deployed to the world of the living about hundred and ten years ago. For some reason though, it seemed to suit him well. He was rather laidback and serious when he needed to be, but don't expect him to finish any paperwork ahead of time.

"Turn that shit off Shinji!" she heard Hiyori shout at him.

Yoruichi entered the building to see Shinji holding back the former fuku-taichou to keep her from turning off his record player. He absolutely hated when someone messed with his record player; back when he was a taichou himself he had beat the daylights out of one of his subordinates for moving it. The mere thought of what Hiyori would do to it made him cringe; she'd probably throw it from a roof and laugh as it broke to pieces when it hit the ground.

"Why don't you just go on patrol or something?" Shinji said as he barely managed to keep the short tempered girl away from his record player.

"It ain't my shift" she said as she pinched his side and he let out a painful cry "and I gave you a chance to turn that damn shit off. Now I'm gonna do it myself" as she almost got to it.

Shinji quickly jumped onto her and held her down while she pulled the edges of his mouth trying to get him to let go of her. Everyone around the two sighed at the same time; this was the norm for the two. They were like siblings with how they bickered at and treated each other. Sometimes it was amusing; other times, like today, it was just annoying.

"You two are the loving couple you've always been" Yoruichi teased.

Hiyori quickly became annoyed at that comment. The one thing she couldn't stand was someone made a comment like the one Yoruichi just did. Shinji irritated the shit out of her, and she often voiced that; not to mention they were more of a brother-sister duo rather than a boyfriend-girlfriend. Yeah they bickered, but who didn't?

"You wanna say that again?" Hiyori snapped.

"I'd like to but I'm not here on my time" Yoruichi said with a smile before turning serious "my protégée needs help for someone."

Shinji quickly let go of Hiyori and turned his record player off so he could listen. If Yoruichi was coming to them for help, then it could only mean one thing; that a person had a Hollow side that needed to be controlled. If it was anything like Ichigo's then time was of the essence; especially since Ichigo's Hollow nearly killed Hiyori even with her Hollowfication. Hiyori had issues sleeping for the next week after that, but she'd never admit it; she refused to sound even remotely weak.

"Go ahead" he said.

"Soifon rescued a boy from the Rukongai district" she started to explain "he had unusually high spiritual energy and fought three Hollows with his bare hands; standing his own for a while too. Eventually though, my protégée had to intervene to save him. Zaraki also seemed to like how strong he is and offered to teach him in his Division."

"Is he suicidal?" Love asked.

"No, just strong" she continued "while he was there he gained his zanpakuto when he was fighting a Hollow. Then he beat Soifon's fuku-taichou and accompanied her to an Emergency Taichou Meeting where he and Soifon were sent to Yokai Academy to do recon. At first it was just a hunch, but later it turned out to be true. That's when it took over him; from what Soifon has told me, it resembled a Hollow but insisted that it wasn't."

"Are we thinking of the same Soifon?" Mashiro asked as she played with her scarf.

The former fuku-taichou had met Soifon a couple of times and they really didn't seem to get along much. Soifon was more of a stick in the mud than Kensei; her exact words. Besides, the martial arts expert only helped Yoruichi; whom she often obsessed over.

"I have to agree with Mashiro" Kensei said "this doesn't sound like something your Soifon would concern herself with…"

"Regardless" Shinji said "if the person that Soifon seems to be concerned with has a Hollow that has already fully possessed him once;" as he looked at his comrades "then it's only a matter of time before it happens again. Hiyori" as he focused on her "go to Yokai Academy and bring him back here."

"WHAT? WHY ME?" she demanded to know.

"You are the one that's been complaining about having nothing to do lately" Lisa said without looking up from her manga.

-Tsukune-

He was currently in the mall looking at different shoes; not for him though. He noticed that Soifon had taken off her shoes rather quickly after their talk and figured she was uncomfortable in them. If he remembered correctly, she normally wore shoes that looked like slippers of some sort; however, he wasn't having any luck in finding a pair that looked like what she normally wears. Plus with her having to act as a sensei as well as send in progress reports to Yamamoto-sou-taichou, he knew she didn't have the time to look for a pair herself.

With all honesty, he was surprised that she apologized for her outburst last night. Even more surprised she didn't try to kill him when he told her he watched her get dressed. If he didn't know any better he'd swear she had a slight blush when he told her that… but that was obscured; she wouldn't blush at something like that. Or at least she didn't seem to be the type that would…

"Can I help you find something sir?" an employee asked him.

"Hai" as he rubbed the back of his head "do you have any slipper looking shoes?"

"You mean Chinese style?" she asked "I believe we have some in the back what size do you need?"

"They're not for me, you see" as he felt a blush "they're for my mentor… She misplaced hers and I'm getting her a replacement pair."

"That's sweet" she said "what size does she wear?"

He froze up at that question; he had no idea what size she wore… the only thing he could do was make a best guess. With how petite she is she couldn't wear that big of a shoe; maybe a size five in women's at best. The only thing he didn't want to do was get her shoes that were too small and make it harder on her.

-Later: Soifon-

She let out a moan as she laid herself on her bed. To think, there was once a time when she wanted nothing more than to go on a living world deployment; she had to be crazy. The amount of paperwork that was currently building up at her office had to be unreal, plus there was having to put up with Jagerjaquez on a now regular bases, and there were the other sensei that annoyed her. It was similar to the Gotei Thirteen, but at the same time it wasn't. She still had to put up with whiners and complainers, still had to put up with insubordinate people, and there was Jagerjaquez.

It didn't help at all that the vampire she had saved from Ghoul was trying to call her out. If it weren't for the fact that she was undercover she would've knocked that vampire into the next week for questioning her authority. It was like putting up with recruits all over again…

"This sucks" she sighed.

The only thing that seemed to make it better for her, for some reason, was Tsukune. He was obedient, and knew when to keep his mouth shut; unlike his Arrancar sensei… Jagerjaquez never knew when to shut his trap and keep comments to himself; during their lunch break he wouldn't shut up about his 'date', if you could call it that, with Nekonome-sensei. Tsukune was Jagerjaquez's antithesis in almost every sense. Tsukune was humble, quiet, and honest enough to keep from sounding harsh; Jagerjaquez boasted, was loud and bluntly honest to the point of making something sound worse than it actually was.

Plus, Tsukune was seriously blushing when he said he watched her get dressed. Did he find her attractive?

"Why am I asking myself such stupid questions?" she asked herself as she shook her head and sat up.

She looked around her room; it wasn't as big as the one back home, but it was enough to make due. She had a large desk against the wall adjacent to her bed with a book case next to that. That's where she kept some of her toy cat collection; they all resembled Yoruichi when she was in her feline form. Looking at her little collect, she started to see why she liked Tsukune so much. It was similar to how Yoruichi treated her when she was still Shaolin, just before she joined the Onmitsukido and changed her name to Soifon. Yoruichi had seen her potential and helped her make it her actual strength; just as she was doing with Tsukune…

If she had patrol tonight, she'd be able to get out of her gigai, loosen back up, and let the fresh air help clear her head. Her first deployment where she had to use a gigai was already starting to cause her stress. As much as it worried her to think this; Suzumebachi and Yoruichi were right, she needed to get laid…

There was a knock on her door.

"Enter" she said.

Another knock… she had forgotten that this wasn't the Seireitei. She got up and answered the door; to her surprise, Tsukune was standing there. It was the damnest thing considering she was just thinking about him. What made it even weirder was the fact that he had a bag in his hand…

'_I think his timing has gotten better'_ Suzumebachi giggled.

"What are you doing here?" Soifon asked.

"Well…" as he fought to say it "I saw that you didn't like the tennis shoes you were given when we were sent here. So I… um… went and bought you… a pair of those slipper things you normally wear" as he held out the bag for her to take "I hope they fit; I didn't know your shoe size."

Soifon took the bag and opened it up. Her eyes widened when she saw that he wasn't playing a joke on her like a certain Arrancar would. They were indeed the type of shoes she normally wore; and in her size…

"Thank you…" she said without looking back at him.

She didn't think she could actually look at him without failing to hide the blush that was finding its way to her cheeks.

"I have some homework I need to do" he said before he gave a small bow "I'll report in after dinner" just before he vanished with sonido.

Soifon closed her door and leaned against it; he went out of his way to find her shoes she'd be more comfortable in… She couldn't believe it.

'_You blew your chance!'_ Suzumebachi said.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia: hosted by Mayuri Kurotsuchi

"Today I shall be explaining witches" the taichou said as he turned on the screen "creatures that are often referred to as border-beings by Yokai because of the fact that they are a race that exists on the boundary of Yokai and human. They live deep within the woods so they can live in harmony with nature; the source of their power."

The screen showed Ruby pulling in Nature's Energy to form the orb she was going to blast Tsukune with.

"Their wands allow them to manipulate the energy around them and use it in a manner similar to Quincies;" as he showed a picture of a Quincy pulling in spiritual energy to make its bow next to a picture of a witch pulling in Nature's Energy to cast a spell "while the only common weapon that they seem to use is a voodoo doll, their weapons vary greatly depending on the level of control the witch has over the energy they control. Take for example these plant things" as the screen showed Tsukune slicing through the carnivorous plants Ruby had summoned "they don't need a high level of control to use them unless the witch didn't use the same fertilizer that this witch did.

Manipulating their body's shape is also a common ability for witches" as he clicked a button to show the next picture… which for some reason was of Tsukune attacking Ruby just as she sprouted her raven wings to avoid the attack "the shape that the witch takes is completely up to the witch and it is a trade secret as to how they do this" as a vein in his forehead pulsed "of course this isn't the only trade secret amongst them; how they manipulate the energy they use to cast spells is also kept secret to keep others from learning their spells" as he clicked the button and changed the picture on the screen "DAMN IT NEMU!" as he threw the clicker onto the ground "this is the last time you're making the slide shows!"

He stormed off looking for something else to do and to get away from the picture on the screen. Which was of Tsukune taking the crushed can from Ruby.


	10. Chapter 10

Questions and Answers]  
Leonidas of Olympus:  
Q: If there's not going to be a TsuXMoka, then what's for romance?  
A: After reading back over all my previous chapters, I decided to go with TsukuneXSoifon.

Comments]  
I really don't see a TsuXMoka happening in this story; at best I'll have Tsukune become a friend with her, but he'd still keep his distance. And why does everyone think I hate vampires? I don't, it's just how this story needs to be written in order for it to flow properly. I will explain Outer Moka's absence later on, but for now just roll with it. I am currently working on a one-shot, but I'm in the finals time frame for college; so I need to study more than work on this story.

On with the story,  
Demon

Xxxxx

Tsukune managed to dodge the incoming fist that was aimed at his side. His opponent wasn't holding back as much anymore and it was starting to take its toll on him. It was slowly getting harder for him to dodge attacks, let alone find an opening for one of his own. Grimmjow wasn't kidding when he said that his training was going up in difficulty from this day on. The only plus side to this was that with how hard Grimmjow was pushing him, he was going to be more than ready to join the Safety Committee at the end of the week.

"Focus" Grimmjow said as he landed a solid kick in Tsukune's gut.

Blood spilt from Tsukune's mouth as he got launched backward into a large boulder. He was getting pushed to his very limit; or at least what he thought was his limit. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he could keep fighting if there was someone's life at risk, but just training; he was spent. Which wasn't entirely his fault; Grimmjow's hour long training sessions always got harder every day that he was being trained.

"You're done;" Grimmjow sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets "yer gettin' faster though."

Tsukune picked himself up off the ground and felt an urge to vomit. His muscles were near their limit and he could feel them burn as they demanded oxygen to keep functioning properly. Eventually, the burning pain of his muscles got the better of him and he threw up where he stood. The nasty acidic taste that accompanied his vomit stuck to his teeth and refused to come out. How his ribs managed to stay intact after that hit was a complete mystery.

He wiped his mouth as he started to walk towards the pool of water that was nearby while he took Bloodriver from his sash and set her on the ground next to the pool. He was in dire need of a drink of water; as well as a good healing that the water was willing to give anyone that entered it. His legs tried to protest the movement he made, but he somehow managed to force them to keep moving so he could let himself sink into the water. The water felt like a chilled sheet wrapping around his body as he allowed himself to nearly drop into the water completely. There was a slight tingling on the few open wounds that Grimmjow had caused from hitting him so hard sealed up and then completely healed without a scar.

His thoughts began reflecting on the day's events as he took a drink from the pool. Maybe he shouldn't have flared his reiatsu at the vampire he was avoiding; she already knew what it felt like and it was only a matter of time before she tried to call him out on who he really was. And, for some reason, he just knew that the orange haired vampire was going to make him pay for his comment about them not being worth a fight later; he could feel it in his gut. Or maybe that was just the lingering pain from Grimmjow's kick to it… either way though, he had a feeling in his gut.

"Make sure you get back in yer gigai before you leave" Grimmjow said as he got back into his.

The last thing that the panther wanted was for the flat-chested taichou to fuss at him because he forgot to remind Aono to get back in his gigai. She already fussed at him for just about everything else.

"Hai" Tsukune said to his mentor as he watched the Arrancar walk out of the underground canyon.

The panther Arrancar was unusual, but he wasn't complaining. Grimmjow was the only one that could train him in his Arrancar abilities; which seemed to slowly begin to outnumber his shinigami abilities. Sonido, Pesquisa, his strength, and his skin seemed to be taking more to cause injury to; something he'd ask Grimmjow about later. Compared to only Kido and having a shinigami style zanpakuto, he was more like an Arrancar; he was starting to see just how complicated he truly was.

He untied his sash and took his top off before throwing it over to his zanpakuto. The garment was bloodstained, but that wasn't a big deal since it was black and he was in his gigai most of the time anyway. The sound of his necklace moving caught his attention; he looked down and held the cross pendant in his hand. The design was similar to the burn mark it rested on; why, and why was it bugging him so much? Well, he knew the answer to the latter; it bugged him because he wanted to know how he got it and how it was connected to his death. Ghoul refused to answer any questions about the past he can't remember; or tell him any more about the girls that knew who he was. He was flying blind and it was bothering him.

A sigh escaped him as he let himself sink deeper into the pool of water. There was no way for him to clear his head and figure out what to do from here. Well there was, but he didn't want to do it because of the fact that he nearly killed the vampire and didn't want to risk Ghoul taking over when he'd be with her. There was always Mizore and Kurumu, but they'd most likely be around Moka too; who'd probably have Kokoa clinging to her.

"Why can't this be easier?" he asked himself.

He continued to soak in the water for the next ten minutes before he decided that he needed to get out. There was a small list of things he wanted to do before he went to bed; such as check out the Karate Club. If he were to join that, then Soifon wouldn't have to worry about making time to train him if she wanted to relax for a while; something that she seemed like she needed to do lately. They had only been here for three days and she already looked like she was about to kill someone; although, he wasn't sure if that was also stress from back in the Seireitei.

For some reason, he felt like he was starting to like the petite taichou. He did go and get her a pair of shoes like she normally wears, and she didn't kill him when he told her he saw her get dressed last night. If anything, he could swear she blushed… no; he had to have been seeing things. Soifon didn't seem like the type that would blush at much of anything. She seemed to be more the type to glare and say something that would cause you to keep your mouth shut about whatever it was the conversation was about. But then again, she apologized for shouting at him; or at least what he thought was directed at him.

Well, whatever the case; she at least seemed happy to have shoes that she was used to wearing now. Maybe that'll help her relax a bit; with her being a PE sensei she was going to be on her feet all day for the entire time of their deployment a good pair of shoes is what she needed. Although, something told him she wanted more than a good pair of shoes…

'_**Cuz she wants a good fuckin''**_ Ghoul said to him _**'or are ya gonna be just as much of a dumbass when yer dead as ya were when you were alive?'**_

'_Soifon-taichou isn't like that'_ he said back.

'_**Shoulda known'**_ Ghoul sighed _**'ya lacked the balls to screw that harem that was chasin' ya around then, and ya lack the balls to screw the taichou ya clearly have the hots for now. She ain't got a rack, but damn that muscle tone more than makes up for it'**_ he snickered.

As much as the thought disturbed him; maybe Ghoul was right. Maybe he should tell her that he likes her in more than the superior-subordinate way. But she was a taichou, and that could only complicate things for her; things were complicated enough. She already had to worry about progress reports for the mission, putting up with the locals and Grimmjow, and maintaining her cover. If he were to tell her how he feels about her it could distract her from the mission at hand.

'_**Oh, go tell that sob story to Reader's Digest'**_ his darker half said _**'and while yer at it; pick up a couple poetry books for me. And I ain't kiddin' about the poetry books!'**_

'_If I get you a few poetry books from the library will you stop having thoughts of Soifon-taichou like the one you said?'_

'_**I'll quit tellin' them to ya'**_ he replied.

'_Good enough'_ Tsukune sighed as he got out of the pool.

It was a little odd that Ghoul wanted to read poetry… It seemed out of character for him, but if it kept him quiet and from taking over then he wasn't going to question it. Besides, he wasn't sure if he'd like poetry himself; so it was worth a shot. He remembered seeing a section for poetry in the library while he was looking for the Encyclopedia that's in his night stand. It was a decent size; so he shouldn't have any problems finding something to keep Ghoul entertained for a while.

He pulled himself up and out of the pool; while his muscles still ached, it wasn't as bad as before. The water that Urahara had put in the pool was really something else; rapid healing for not only external wounds, but internal ones as well. His bruised face was healed up, his cuts gone, and his muscles no longer burned like fire. It was great.

The black kimono top was the first thing he worried himself with as he wiped the water from his face and let it drip back into the pool. The smell of blood wasn't too bad, but it was noticeable to him. If he left it it'd probably get so bad that it'd be noticeable even with him in his gigai. He grabbed the garment and pushed it into the water; watching as it became saturated. Once it was completely soaked, he started to rub the cloth against itself and watched as the water that ran from it slowly turned a slight shade of red. Maybe it was worse than he had first thought; good thing he decided to clean it.

He slid the top back on and tied the sash to keep it in place. The soaked garment refused to set right at first, and when he went to adjust it he saw a white piece of cloth stitched to the black top. When he inspected it further, he noticed that there was a Pasque flower underneath two horizontal lines on it. He remembers seeing that same symbol on one of the doors in the Second Division Headquarters; it was something he was going to have to ask Soifon about… maybe tomorrow… She really didn't seem to be in the best of moods today.

As he fixed the garment, he slid Bloodriver back into his sash. Lately he hasn't been practicing his Kendo and he didn't want to risk having it affect him in a fight. So he opted to check out Kendo Club instead of Karate Club once he left the massive underground canyon. With how Grimmjow was training him, he was getting in enough hand to hand combat training for now. The only problem was that he wasn't getting any Kendo training in; yeah, he was definitely going to check out the Kendo Club once he left here.

He picked up his gigai and focused on reentering it. It was harder than it sounded; while some could get in and out of their gigai like it was nothing, they had experience doing so. Those that were inexperienced at it had to focus a lot more than those with experience; also, it took time. Finally, his legs started to enter the gigai; he slowly leaned into his false body and entered it completely. Once that was done, he stretched his shoulders out a bit and got used to the body again; it was a weird feeling getting back into a gigai, like putting on a wetsuit that just barely fit you.

"Don't think I'll ever get used to the feeling" he sighed as he walked towards the exit while he shoved his hands in his pockets.

As he walked up the stairs that led to the secret door that was a part of a wall, he closed his eyes and focused on compressing his reiatsu a little before letting a wave of it flow out of him. This was the way Grimmjow had taught him how to use Pesquisa; it was also a good way to learn how to control how much reiatsu he let out, two for one ability. Of course, he was starting to be able to feel when someone with higher reiatsu was around; he just had to keep working on being able to identifying reiatsu.

He slowly pushed the door open and left the canyon training area. It his surprise, it was near sunset already; time flies in that canyon when you can't see the actual sun. With a small sigh, he made sure the door closed properly and started to walk back to the dorms since every club was now, more than likely, calling it a day. Just a little bad luck; nothing too serious.

The air around him began to cool down as the sun continued to fall over the horizon. Darkness slowly became the dominate trait of the sky; even clouds seemed to favor the company of darkness. Clouds… it was nice to finally see some; although something told him that they weren't like the clouds in Seireitei. They seemed to hold a dark secret; just like he did…

Something caught his eye, or rather his Pesquisa. There was a strong reiatsu approaching him from behind; too weak to be Rangiku's or Soifon's, but stronger than Yachiru's. The owner was getting closer and closer to him as he continued his walking pace; whomever it belonged to was clearly in a hurry. Or at least that's what he thought until he felt the owner jump into the air and try to attack him.

His new instincts kicked in as he felt how close the owner was; he quickly turned back to face his attacker. What he saw as a foot, which was originally aimed at his shoulder, coming down at him. A part of him knew who the attacker was; he remembered that the S-rank vampire he had nearly killed tended to favor kicks as her attacks. Plus, the extremely toned legs kind of gave it away; who else had legs like that that would attack him?

He extended both his arms; one to catch the kick and the other to catch the torso of his attacker. No part of him wanted to fight the vampire, not after what happened last time, but he could at least dodge her attacks. Or better yet, show her that he was able to block her attacks and they didn't affect him. At least then she might get the point that he 'wasn't' Tsukune. As soon as he felt contact on his arm, he pushed her against the tree that he was next to; all the while holding the leg she attacked with in the air to keep her from attacking again.

"Why did you attack me?" he asked her as he looked into her blood red eyes.

Moka couldn't believe that not only did he dodge her attack, but he had caught her _and_ had her pinned against a tree. And in a very interesting position might she add…

"Spur of the moment" she answered with a hint of lust in her voice.

While her attack was indeed a spur of the moment thing; she was hoping to run into him while on her walk. Not only did she have a gut feeling that he was completely lying about his identity. All she needed to do was draw a little blood from him and she'd be able to prove it. Or she could always just rip his clothes off; that would be much easier for her and more fun…

Her pride had been completely bashed into another dimension by him; so why try to act like she didn't want him? He had not only taken a full power double ax-kick from her, but got up like nothing happened. Then, if that wasn't enough, he had shown he was _much_ stronger than her by putting her in the infirmary for a week.

"Are you gonna keep me in this position," she asked "or are you gonna do something?" with the same hint of lust in her voice still.

Eiyu looked down to see what she was talking about and saw that he was holding her in an _extremely_ suggestive position. It also didn't help that he was practically pressed _right_ up against her hips to keep her from moving and getting free. Not exactly how he planned on keeping her from attacking him, but… no, he couldn't think like that. He was trying to stay away from her to keep her safe from Ghoul; from himself…

Before he could reply back though, something extremely small caught his eye; a single drop of water that came from above them… It seemed to move in extreme slow motion as it got closer and closer to the vampire he was holding. From what the Encyclopedia said; vampires can't touch water without adding herbs to neutralize the 'purifying abilities' of the liquid. Only a moment later, it struck Moka's leg and she let out a scream of pain as electricity jumped across her body. He quickly let go of her leg, picked her up bridal style and sonido out of there to get her back to her dorm.

Of course he wasn't going to take her to his room; then she'd know where he slept, and that… disturbed him. If she knew where he slept, he'd never be able to actually sleep without fear of this girl doing something, he didn't want to think about what, to him. Sure he could find somewhere else to sleep, but his options were a little limited. Rangiku was, well Rangiku; Yachiru's room didn't have the space; Grimmjow… he didn't want to think of what went on in his room; Soifon… better to not approach that option.

He heard Moka let out another scream of pain as another rain drop struck her. The rain was starting to get heavier; slowly but it was. That would only mean that the vampire was going to be put in more pain if he didn't move faster. His training with Grimmjow had taken an extreme toll on his body and he hadn't had time to fully recover from it; even with the water he drank. His leg muscles started to tense up quickly, but he kept them moving. It didn't take long for him to finally reach the girls' dorm; just in time too, just as he closed the door behind him it started down pouring.

He could feel Moka tighten her grip on his shoulder as she continued to get shocked; she was fighting letting out another scream. While he was fast enough to get her inside before it started to down pour, he wasn't fast enough to keep her completely dry. At least her jacket was damp if not completely wet all the way through, her legs were dripping, and her skirt and panties… well, he honestly didn't want to think about it.

"Which room is yours?" he asked as he pushed another set of doors open with his back; being careful not to hit Moka's head against the door frame.

"3…" she fought between shocks "09…"

He let out a sigh; he'd have to take the elevator to get her to her room. So much for keeping his distance from her; first he was pressed right up against her, then he had to carry her to her dorm, and now all the way up to her room. It was a very long day… He carefully used his foot to push the up button to call the elevator down; of course one was completely out of service, just his luck.

While he was trying to stay away from her, he couldn't help but to be curious about the vampire he had just helped. Was she really that attracted to him or was it just because he was in his gigai; which happened to resemble his actual body damn near perfectly. There were several questions he wanted answered; questions that only she'd be able to answer, but because of Ghoul he had to avoid her. Things were too complicated. The elevator slid open and he stepped in; being careful not to hit Moka's head against the metal door.

The electric shocks slowly came to a halt as the elevator reached the third floor; they were still happening, just not as often. He was sure that Moka was thankful for that, of course she was still hurting from it; that much was obvious with how hard she was gripping his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to get his attention and be borderline annoying; he was just too nice to say anything about it. The only thing he was hoping was that her nails didn't break skin and draw blood; that was the _very_ last thing he needed right now. If what he did remember was correct, then she was obsessed with his blood…

Did that really make him no more than a meal to her? Did he really mean that little to her, and if so; why did he put up with it?

"Do you have your key?" he asked in a monotone as he came up to the door.

"Left pocket" she answered as she felt another small shock.

Eiyu gently let her legs down onto the floor and carefully pulled the key out of her jacket pocket. It wasn't that hard since it was the only thing in her pocket, but he still didn't want her to think that he was doing anything more than being helpful. With how she spoke to him earlier, it was obvious she had the hots for him; as Ghoul would put it. As he pushed the key into the lock he could feel the vampire staring at him intently; almost as if she was planning something… While worrying, he knew she was too weakened to try anything against him.

He pushed the door open and walked in; supporting Moka as he did so. Her room was bigger than his; the bed was a little bigger, the desk was about the same size, she had a fridge, as well as her own bathroom, and there was more floor space. On the desk, he saw something that caught his eye; as well as cause it to widen a bit. A cross shaped _just_ like the burn mark on his hand… the red bead in the center looked to be the exact same size as the circle within the burn mark.

That settled it; the vampire he was helping was connected to his death somehow. While he wanted to know how he died, he couldn't just ask without looking suspicious. It would take being extremely careful with his questions to figure out what happened; but that would mean having to spend a lot of time here. Of course, he didn't want to spend too much time with her either; complicated seemed to be becoming the word of the day for him. There was something else on the desk; a picture of him with the vampire's pink-haired self. From the way that he was holding the pink haired girl, it looked like they were very close.

He helped the S-rank vampire onto her bed. A part of him wanted to just get the hell out of the room and get to his so he could relax a bit; the other wanted to offer help to the vampire. The only problem was that if he stayed in the room she could end up drawing blood and blowing his cover; let's not forget the chance that Ghoul could take over him and kill her since she's so weak now. It struck him as odd that Ghoul was so quiet at the moment; he was expecting him to be shouting at him to get away from her, kill her, or make a comment like he did about Mizore. The first two seemed more likely though.

-Tsukune's mindscape-

A vein pulsed in Ghoul's forehead as he tried to figure out how he ended up like he was; hanging by a rope upside down from the Monster Tree with a handkerchief tied around his mouth like a gag. Then he remembered; Bloodriver had blindsided him when he felt that S-rank bitch's Youki. He was just about to shout at Tsukune to get him to stay away from her when he got hit. Of course he wasn't gonna try a full possession again; not with what happened last time. He was still healing from that; as well as the cut across his chest that Tsukune had given him.

'_**The one thing I wanna know is'**_ he thought as he saw Bloodriver in the distance _**'WHERE THE FUCK DID SHE GET THESE FROM? AND WHY AIN'T SHE USING THEM PROPERLY?'**_

-Eiyu-

"Do you need anything before I leave?" he asked Moka as she took her damp jacket off; luckily her shirt was dry.

Why did he suddenly feel like he was going to regret asking that question? There was just something in his gut that told him he wasn't going to be leaving the room in very good condition. More than likely missing about a pint or two of blood and, with how she was eyeing him earlier, a few clothes…

"I could use some blood" she said as she fought to stand up and walk over to him "fresh is normally best…" as she eyed his neck with a blush.

While she wouldn't have admitted it last year, she had her pink-haired self do an experiment. She would go a day drinking only transfusion blood to see how effective that was at giving her strength. Then the next day, she would drink straight from Tsukune's neck and do that a few times throughout the day. When the results were in… fresh from the tap was the better option because not only did it have more iron, but more nutrients as well. That was just one of her attempts to try to distance herself from the human that completely backfired.

"Keep your fangs away from my neck" Eiyu said as he took a small step back and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Not even just a little?" as she stepped closer to him.

"No" as he stood his ground "I didn't like when it happened in middle school so why would I like it now?"

He had to get her to back off as well as maintain his cover. Soifon seemed to be loosening up to him, but even then there were still times when he wondered if he was still on her shit list. Only time would tell him if he was still on that list or not; till then though, he had to be extremely careful.

"Because" as she pressed herself against him "I know how to bite gently."

"Have you no shame?"

"My pride was beaten out of me not too long ago" as she turned away from him and walked back to her bed "only a week before you showed up here" she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Must have been a bad beating" as Moka sat on her bed.

"It completely demolished my pride" as she looked at him with narrow eyes "as well as put me in the hospital for a week."

Those words hit him hard; not only could he not regain control from Ghoul, but he put her in the hospital for a week… He knew that he had seriously harmed her, but that badly… it unreal. And Ghoul was just messing with her, had he wanted to kill her quickly there was little that was stopping him. But to think that he actually did that much harm to her; why would she even go near him after that?

Moka saw how her last statement affected the one that helped her; he looked like he was hit by a train. This only further reinforced the reason why she thought this was indeed Tsukune and not 'Eiyu'. Just the look on his face was enough for her to recognize the look that Tsukune made he had saved her from Kuyo's final attack and she flicked his forehead and said 'So you've finally waken up, sleepy head'. She'd never forget that look of pure shock and awe that he had when he saw that he was holding her like that; to be honest, she liked it.

"Must have been painful" he finally said.

"At first it was" with a shrug of her shoulders "but it got me to think about how I treated my opponents when I fought. I would look down on them as if they were nothing, and always told them to 'Know their place'. After being shown mine, I realize how much of an insult that was. By doing that I was worse than them; I'm a vampire of two noble houses and yet I acted worse than them. I insulted my father by doing so" with noticeable sadness in her eyes "but even worse; I insulted my mother.

But it wasn't till after I thought about all that that I realized just how much I hurt someone that I… I loved. I would push him away, flat out reject him, do everything I could to keep him away from me; yet he kept trying to get my approval. Even doing stupid things that could've gotten him killed; like stepping in the way of an attack that would've only injured me but nearly killed him."

"Must be the Aono guy everyone keeps confusing me for" Eiyu said as he looked over to the picture "is that him?" pointing at the picture.

"Hai" Moka answered as she looked at the picture too.

"Now I get why everyone mixes me up with him" with a small chuckle "I look just like him. I should get going" as he walked towards the door but stopped.

He let out a sigh. Someone was on the other side of the door waiting to ambush him; Kokoa most likely. He thought it was nothing when he felt a slight increase in reiatsu while walking pass a room, but now it made since to him. The room in question was Kokoa's and she had sensed him somehow and became enraged. She had to be enraged still if her reiatsu was at a level where he could feel it without using Pesquisa. There were very few options at this point.

"I might not show it" he said to Moka "but it does get annoying when your sister attacks me."

Moka looked at him confused; there was no reason for him to bring that up right now. Then why would he? It's not like Kokoa was in the room; in the dorm, maybe.

"She's right outside the room" Eiyu said "and I don't want to get hit by her bat-thing this time. She hits hard enough with her bare hands and feet."

Moka got the hint and got up to tell her sister to stand down so he could leave. Although she knew why her sister wanted to attack him; his comment in gym class. It was a complete insult to them and last year she would've tried to kill him right then and there, but now she lacked the pride to even bother with it.

-Kokoa-

The small vampire stood outside her Onee-sama's room with Kyo as a kanabo; just waiting for that arrogant bastard to walk out. He spoke down to her _and_ her Onee-sama, ignored them, and took her attacks like they were nothing. Completely insulting and unacceptable to her. She _was_ going to make him feel pain and bleed out slowly; regardless of what it took. If it meant attacking him every time she saw him, fine; fighting him in a full scale battle, fine. Killing him in his sleep… better, but too much of a sign of weakness on her part.

She tightened her grip on Kyo when she heard footsteps getting closer to the door to her Onee-sama's room. One thing that didn't quite sit right with her was how light the bat now felt. For some reason she felt it was connected to him going missing for a day; mainly because the bake-bake bat refused to talk about where he went and what happened. While weird, she really didn't care; he was only a weapon.

She heard words, but couldn't make them out. Why was her Onee-sama wasting her time with someone as pathetic as this Fraccion? There was nothing special about him other than the fact that he looked like that weakling Aono. Even his blood didn't smell good; it was about like opening a transfusion bag and getting that first whiff of the blood. Not too good to be honest, but it was still blood; of course she wouldn't degrade herself by drinking _his_ blood. There was nothing unique about him; he was just another annoyance to her. A thorn in her side that was going to keep her away from her Onee-sama if he was in her room; it wasn't fair.

'_What's taking him so long?'_ she asked herself.

This was beginning to take way too long. He should have walked out by now; meaning she should've cracked his skull open by now. There was no way she was going to be nice with how hard she hit him; oh-no, she was going to hit him so hard he was going to fly through the window on the other side of her Onee-sama's room. A one-hit K.O. that's what she was going to do to him; and it was going to be easier now that Kyo was lighter, regardless of how he got that way.

Finally the door opened up. She tightened her grip and took the slight back swing before she heard a familiar voice.

"Kokoa-chan" Moka said to her "what are you doing?"

Kokoa nearly dropped Kyo when she heard that. Why did her Onee-sama open the door and not that weakling Kenpachi?

"I'm gonna crack that damn Fraccion's skull wide open;" she spat as she saw him "why was he in your room Onee-sama?"

Moka let out a sigh; she knew that her younger sister wasn't going to like the answer, but it was one she needed to hear. While it was only him helping her get out of the rain; she secretly wanted to get him in her room so she could ravish him. She never gave Tsukune a chance, so she wasn't going to wait for Eiyu to try it; he was avoiding her too much.

"He saved me" with a serious look on her face "if he wouldn't have found me, I'd be dead right now."

"Just doing the right thing" Eiyu said as he walked pass the two vampires "see ya around Akashiya-san."

-Later-

Tsukune lay on his bed trying to figure out what to do. It wasn't about the mission, the girls he had befriended again, or even how to keep Moka from figuring out that he is really Tsukune; no, he was simply bored out of his mind. There was just nothing to do. Rangiku had patrol tonight, which he was sure she'd complain about tomorrow, and he was done with his homework already. Grimmjow was more than likely asleep already; Yachiru was currently passed out in his arm. The only thing he could do was think; mainly about how to ask Soifon about the symbol in his kimono top without blowing their cover.

He turned his attention to the sleeping fuku-taichou in his arm. The pinkette child was in his room when he got back to it; again, he didn't want to know how she did it. She had passed out after a sugar high had worn off and taken its toll on her; the wrappers on his bed and floor gave it away. After he cleaned up the mess he picked her up in one arm and laid on his bed; she probably missed Zaraki-taichou. It would make sense; as well as explain why she always wanted to be near him. Just like a little sister would be.

Before he went to train with Grimmjow, she had gone with Rangiku to get dinner and go shopping again. He didn't want to think about how much clothes the busty fuku-taichou had. Although, something told him she got more than clothes; sake, definitely sake as well. Where she hid it was a mystery though, rooms were regularly inspected for things that weren't allowed in the dorm rooms. That didn't leave many places where she could safely hide the alcoholic drinks without risking having someone else find them and take them.

Deep down he felt like several things had changed from when he was alive and now. Now, he wanted something to do; go on patrol, train, _something_. It didn't seem like something he would want to do when he was alive; although, something told him things weren't too much different.

"Maybe if I sleep on it I'll figure it out" he sighed as he closed his eyes and waited for the embrace that sleep granted everyone.

-Morning-

The rain had stopped sometime in the night and it was already dry outside. A good thing for two vampires; even if it meant Eiyu had to put up with Kokoa's attacks. His attention was drawn to Soifon, who was taking roll and about to start class; she was wearing the shoes he got her yesterday. That was a good thing; her feet wouldn't be killing her before lunch and she would be in a better mood this afternoon when he goes to talk to her. The only thing that was going to be difficult was how to approach her.

"EIYU!" he heard Grimmjow shout to get his attention "get yer head out of yer ass and get moving."

He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and caught up with his class; who was doing their warm up exercises. There were too many things going on in his head right now for him to think; he had to get everything sorted out soon. Otherwise, he could end up getting hurt badly.

-Later-

Tsukune was currently training by himself where he had met Mizore. There was no need to go to the underground cavern to train since he was practicing his hand-to-hand combat skills. Since he didn't have access to his zanpakuto while in his gigai, he will have to strongly rely on his own strength for everything. Even dealing with a certain vampire that wanted to kill him; during gym this morning she had attacked him four times and tried to get him to bleed.

He threw a punch at a nearby tree and caused the bark to fall off as he withdrew his hand. There was just too much going on right now; luckily Ghoul wasn't a worry at the moment. He was currently reading poetry Tsukune had read earlier during lunch. It wouldn't keep his dark nature busy for long, but it gave him something to do other than plot revenge against the S-rank vampire. Tsukune was still wondering what was with the desire for poetry; he personally didn't quite understand it, able to get the most of it but still not fully.

As for the poetry that he read during lunch, he went with the work written by Edgar Allen Poe; Ghoul's request. While reading it, he came across a particular poem called 'Quoth the Raven'. Written about a man who had lost a woman, late at night he heard a rapping on his chamber door; when he opened it, a raven flew into the chamber room. 'Nevermore' was all the raven ever quoted.

In reading the poem, Tsukune stopped and thought about what he had lost by dying. He had lost his friends, but now he was reunited with them; only under false pretence of the alias 'Kenpachi Eiyu'. Nevermore could he be Aono Tsukune here at this Yokai Academy; if he were, the consequences could be disastrous. Those that could help him regain his memory couldn't know his true identity or know of the darkness within him.

He lifted his leg and kicked the same tree he had punched as if he would be kicking someone in the head; only to lose his balance and begin to fall to the ground. Right now, he wasn't sure if he was training out of frustration or out of just the need to get stronger. Either way though, that kick seemed to be thrown out of anger and frustration rather than to train. Now he was just waiting to hit the ground from his blunder and feel the pain that would accompany the ground when he met it. However, he was caught.

"Fighting aggressively doesn't seem to be your style" he heard Soifon say.

He looked back at Soifon and wanted to smack himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. Had he been paying attention, he would've felt she was close by and not have kicked the tree. Today was just messing with him; worse and worse as the day went on.

"Soifon-sensei…" he said with slight shock.

"No one is around;" as she helped him up "you said you wanted to ask me a few questions."

Tsukune had asked her if he could ask the questions after school once all the classes were done for the day. That told her it had to deal with either the mission, or shinigami affairs in general; not that she'd have a problem answering any other questions he may have. Tsukune was probably the only subordinate that she would answer questions for; anyone else she'd more than likely tell them to follow the chain of command and not waste her time with stupid questions.

Yoruichi was right, she was interested in Tsukune; and something told her that her mentor already knew it. It was only a matter of time before the Neko started to tease her about it; or worse… A shiver went down her spine as she thought about what the princess could do; tease, spread the word through the Seireitei, or even… try to give her sex advice again… That thought alone put more fear into her than when she fought the former king of Hueco Mundo.

The last time Yoruichi had given her sex advice, she had brought up things that she had done with Urahara. The mental scars still exist and occasionally haunt her nightmares. The idea that Yoruichi would allow that man to touch her in such a way made Soifon slightly question the Neko's taste in men; although, she really had no room to talk. She's never had a boyfriend, only a few one night stands; only problem was that her last one was about a hundred and five years ago.

"H…hai" as he recollected himself "yesterday after Grimmjow-san trained me, I noticed a symbol on the inside of my kimono top. It looked like a flower with two lines over it. What does it mean?"

"The Second Division's symbol is the Pasque Flower; our motto is 'Seek Nothing'" Soifon explained "the Second Division consists of not only the Gotei Thirteen shinigami, but the Onmitsukido as well. The Onmitsukido is a stealth task unit; they were formed underneath the Shihoin clan to protect the head of their clan. They are now tied to the Second Division because the last head of the Shihoin clan, Yoruichi-sama, became the Taichou. They specialize in assassinations, stealth, and hand-to-hand combat. The way that many in the Gotei Thirteen refer to us as is 'ninja'."

"Us…?" with a confused tone.

"I used to be a member of Onmitsukido myself" as she remembered her younger years "Yoruichi-sama handpicked me to be her personal bodyguard and she even trained me herself" with a blush and smile "but then…" as her smile faded "she vanished. Not long after that I became Taichou of the Second Division and trained so that one day I would be strong enough to bring her in…"

Before she could continue, she felt arms gently wrap around her. Tsukune was… hugging her… A part of her liked the feeling; he just gave off that feeling that everything was going to be alright; she had only ever felt that when she was being held by Yoruichi. The warm feeling that nothing was going to happen and everything was fine; she missed having that feeling. She missed seeing Yoruichi everyday and being able to have someone understand her.

She was the _only_ female in the Onmitsukido; and it had taken its toll on her. She had to train harder than everyone else so that she could prove that she was strong enough to be there. That even if every one of her opponents were males, she'd be strong enough to beat them; regardless of the numbers against her. That was part of the reason that Yoruichi had taken notice to her in the first place.

The other part of her wanted him to let go of her. She was his acting Taichou and this was unprofessional in every sense of the word.

"Is there anything I can do to help; Soifon-taichou?" he asked gently.

"Yoruichi-sama and I have already reconciled" she answered "but…" she fought to say it "thank you."

-Rangiku-

"I'm so bored" the busty fuku-taichou complained.

She not only got stuck with possibly the worst patrol ever last night, but Eiyu went to train by himself and Yachiru was somewhere playing with the witch that they had met over the weekend. She couldn't go to her room and drink either; not with the random room inspections that went on. There was too much of a risk of her getting caught with the drinks; if that happened it would only mean paperwork, and she hated paperwork.

There was no way in hell she'd do homework; mainly because it was just paperwork with a different name. She hated homework in the Shinigami Academy, so of course she'd hat it here.

"Why'd Eiyu want to go train on his own" she pouted "I could've helped him."

"This Eiyu guy is pretty popular for a first year" she heard a male voice say with an Osaka accent "I'm Morioka Ginnei; but everyone calls me Gin."

Rangiku turned around to see Gin, and to be honest; he looked hot.

"Matsumoto Rangiku" she said back with a smile.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Hiyori growled as she watched the odd purple mist pass by the window of the bus. She couldn't believe she had to take this old rickety thing; it smelled horrible, and looked like shit. If that wasn't enough; that bus driver was kind of given her the creeps, and that's saying something. There was very little that could shake her nerves; Ichigo's hollow going ramped was one of those things. But this guy, who was smoking a cigar and starring straight forward, was creeping her out. Maybe it was his glowing eyes; yeah, that's it.

"Oi" she said "can't ya make this piece of junk go faster?"

"This rift isn't stable enough for me to go faster" he chuckled "unless you wish for this 'piece of junk' to get pulled apart by the mist around us."

The Visored just growled again; she hated just sitting around and doing nothing. That's kind of the reason she was sent to get this guy that Yoruichi's pupil was worried about. She needed something to do and this was the only thing that has come up since Aizen's defeat; the bastard got off easy in her books. If she had it her way, he'd be roasted alive with Yamamoto's zanpakuto and then fed to one of Mayuri's experiments; or better yet, used as one.

"I would tell you how scary this Academy is" as the bus exited the tunnel "but I'm sure that you've seen far worse" while Hiyori got off the bus "Shinigami" with a snicker.

Before Hiyori could respond, the bus doors had closed and it was pulling away. She had been careful to make sure that she didn't leak reiatsu or anything that could hint that she was once a shinigami. How did he know; never mind, it didn't matter to her. No longer did she consider herself a shinigami; not after what that bastard Aizen did. Hollowified her and her friends so he could make sure that it was safe before he did it to himself.

She carried her usual scowl as she walked through the woods on the path that was cut out of the trees. They were a little erry, but she was far stronger than anything that could attack her here. However, she knew that there was always someone stronger out there somewhere; her fight with Ichigo had shown her that. Then the fights she had during the final battle of the Winter War were very close calls up till Gin had sliced her in half; she still had memory pain from that every now and then.

"Ain't as bad as Hueco Mundo though" she told herself "that's for sure."

The former fuku-taichou had gone to the Hollow home realm a couple times when she still considered herself a shinigami. Just a lot of sand that covered a large forest that consisted of quartz trees and covered the entire realm. The only bad part was that it was the Hollow realm; their home turf and it had every type of Hollow there.

She thought about what Yoruichi had told her about the one she was going to get. He's undercover and using an alias, Kenpachi Eiyu; why in Hueco Mundo he chose that name as an alias she couldn't understand. Kenpachi wasn't a name that was to be taken lightly; even she feared the deranged psychopath that was the Taichou of the Eleventh Division. At least she didn't have to worry about mixing names up since Yoruichi didn't tell her the guy's actual name.

He was also here to avoid a vampire; works for her. She'll just pose as that vampire and kick the tar out of him before dragging him back to Karakura Town. If 'Kenpachi Eiyu' didn't tell anyone the vampire's name then it would be extremely easy for her to pose as that particular one.

"This might actually be more fun than I first thought" she snickered as she came up to an old looking building.

She stopped and took in her surroundings; there were a lot of students here. With her red track suit she stuck out like a sore thumb, but she really didn't care about that. The sound of her flip- flops slapping against the bottom of her feet as she walked could be heard over the conversations that everyone was holding while she looked for 'Kenpachi Eiyu'. Chocolate-brown hair and light brown eyes; not something that would easily stick out since it was a common color for both hair and eyes.

He supposedly carried the current Kenpachi's unofficial daughter on his shoulder like he did. Pink hair, that definitely stuck out much more in a crowd than brown hair. She couldn't use shunpo to look because it would mess up her ability to claim that she was the vampire 'Eiyu' was avoiding by coming here. She's been working on her patience ever since she was sliced in half, but she hadn't gotten very far yet. Although it was better; normally she would've just smacked someone with a flip-flop and demanded that they tell her where the person she was looking for was.

Baby steps, that's how Kisuke described it to her; while he was annoying as hell, he was right. The man, whom she originally thought was trying to replace the one she looked at as a mother, acted about like a father towards her. But she wouldn't know what a real father acted like; she was an orphan from the Rukongai and only ever saw how fathers treated their kids. Deep down she envied them, they had something that she thought she would never have; family. That's why she joined the Shinigami Academy, so she could get out of Rukongai and hopefully find someone she could call family.

"When did that brat dye her hair?" she heard someone ask.

She quickly kicked off her flip-flop and smacked the person that asked the stupid question. She was a natural blonde and didn't like when someone questioned her hair color or made blonde jokes.

"This is my natural hair color ya dumbass" she said as she grabbed his jacket and held the flip-flop to his face "and I dare ya to say somethin' about it" the killer intent could be seen in her eyes clearly.

"Did she just smack Saizo with a flip-flop…?" she heard several people ask.

Saizo didn't dare say a word; with how hard he had just been hit with that flimsy flip-flop, he didn't want to know just how hard he'd get hit for making a joke.

"Since ya ain't talkin';" as she pulled him closer "where's Kenpachi?" with anger in both her voice and eyes.

"I've got nothin' to say to ya" Saizo spat "ya little brat."

Hiyori snapped; she smacked him with her flip-flop as hard as she could and wouldn't stop till she knew where Kenpachi was. One step forward, three steps back; that's how she could hear Shinji describe the scene she was causing right now. There was no one that could stop her from beating this jackass into the next month with only a flip-flop.

"What do you want with that weakling?" she heard someone ask.

She turned around to see what appeared to be a red-head version of herself.

"I have unfinished business with him;" as she dropped a badly beaten Saizo on the ground "now where is he?"

"Don't care" Kokoa said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Sarugaki Hiyori" the Visored said as she dropped her flip-flop and put it back on.

"Shuzen Kokoa" as her eyes narrowed.

Hiyori fell to the ground laughing. She has come across some weird names in her life, but this one takes the cake. Never before had she met someone named after a bean; it was priceless.

"WHAT'S SO DAMN FUNNY?" Kokoa demanded to know.

"You're…" she gasped between laughs "you're named… after a bean!"


	11. Chapter 11

Question and Answer]  
Anonymous (Bill):  
Q: Why not make it a union Tsukune x harem of bleach girls? (Soifon, Rangiku, and Nemu)  
A: Because messing with Soifon is so much more fun. Besides, that'll just complicate things even further.

Comments]  
I will try to work in some smut later on; so please hold out. I haven't written a lemon before so it'll take me some time to get it right. And just as a heads up, here in the next few chapters I will put this story on hiatus to work on the one-shot. It will play an important role in future chapters and I need to get it done for them to make sense to everyone.

On with the story,  
Demon.

Xxxxxxx

Hiyori locked blades with her opponent; had she just old her where Kenpachi was, this wouldn't be needed. The red-head was just too damn stubborn to tell her where he was; so she resorted to beating it out of her. The only down side was that she couldn't go all out like she normally would. If she revealed her Visored abilities, it'd ruin her chances of having a cover as a vampire; same if she released her Shikai. Oh-well, at least she had something to do for a while.

The vampire that was no bigger than her was putting up a rather good fight though. While the Visored had the upper hand with experience, the vampire had the natural strength that came with her species. She might not be shinigami, but she sure fought like one; without Kido. The ferocity that she fought with was about like someone that was a part of the Eleventh Division. It was amusing to her to see just how much the vampire could do.

"What are ya smirkin' at?" Kokoa asked with a scowl and anger.

"Nothin' that concerns you; Bean" with a smug smile.

A vein in Kokoa's forehead pulsed; that nickname was pissing her off. It was bad enough that the small pink haired girl that rode on Eiyu's shoulder called her Strawberry-chan. That was annoying as hell, but she put up with it because the pink haired girl was smaller than herself. Besides, if she were to lash out at the small child Eiyu would more than likely put her into a wall. It didn't take someone with the IQ of a hundred and fifty eight to see that the Fraccion was far more powerful than her; if he wanted to he could kill her without breaking a sweat.

Kokoa pushed her blade against Hiyori's hoping to push her off balance and get an opening to finish the fight. The blonde wasn't moving though; it was like she was stronger than she was letting on. That was even more annoying than the nickname that the blonde vampire had given her; she hated when someone held back while fighting her, it made her feel like she was so much weaker and still a child.

"Quit holdin' back damn it!" Kokoa snarled at Hiyori.

"I don't wanna kill ya" Hiyori said with a chuckle "yer no good to me dead."

"Kyo; Morningstar" she ordered.

Hiyori was not expecting the katana to change into a Morningstar; the change in the weight distribution caused her to lose balance a little. Even though it was just a little, it was still enough for her opponent to get the opening that she needed to get in an attack. The Morningstar knocked her on the head and into the ground. What surprised her even more was that fact that the hit _hurt_; it actually hurt her. Only zanpakuto could harm shinigami, or any spirits, and the living only had one thing that could harm a spirit; a Bake-bake Bat… Those were supposed to be next to impossible to catch though; so how could this Bean have one?

The Visored blinked her eyes a couple times as she got up. The hit had done more than she first thought; it caused her vision to blur a little, but that went away quickly after she blinked a few times.

"Not so tough now; are ya?" Kokoa laughed as she rested her Morningstar on her shoulder and watched the Blonde get up.

"Ya just caught me off guard" the Visored said "that's a Bake-bake Bat; ain't it?"

"Finally noticed; huh" with a smile "Kyo's a Bake-bake Bat. He can change into any weapon I want" as she smiled in a way that showed both her fangs.

Hiyori just smiled back; she'd never thought she'd actually see one in person, let alone be fighting against someone that had actually caught one. This was going to be even more fun than she had thought; it was going to keep her on her toes and force her to stay aware of her opponent's movements. Staying on her toes wasn't going to be as easy as she had first thought; she wasn't fighting a shinigami or a Hollow, but instead something completely foreign to her. She had never fought against a living person, other than Ichigo but he didn't really count, let alone a vampire; this was starting to look like she couldn't hold back much more without losing.

"I'll make a deal with ya" as she rested her zanpakuto on her shoulder "if I beat ya, you tell me where Kenpachi is; if you win, I'll call ya sama."

Having never seen a Bake-bake Bat in person, she was curious about the extent of the creature's abilities. The legendary living world equivalent of a shinigami zanpakuto is supposed to be harder to fight against than a zanpakuto. No one in her classes at the Shinigami Academy believed the stories of the flying mammal that could change into a weapon with powers similar to that of a zanpakuto; neither did she, but she was open minded about it.

"Deal" as she charged at her opponent ready to swing the Morningstar with everything she had.

Having someone call her sama would only prove to everyone that she is strong; especially her Onee-sama. It would even prove to her family that she was not a child and was strong enough to receive recognition in their household. That was something she had wanted for the longest time.

-Rangiku-

The busty fuku-taichou was enjoying the company of the werewolf a lot; he was flattering her with constant compliments. Most of them about her looks, but that was normal for her. She was always complimented on her looks back at the Seireitei and, while she liked them, they got repetitive before long. Which meant that she has heard just about every compliment about looks that's out there; she wanted to hear something new. So far Ginnei was impressing her; he was a smooth talker and almost knew exactly what to say.

"Why would someone as beautiful as you be sitting by yourself?" he asked her as he took a seat.

"I'm not;" as she smiled "I'm sitting with you" with a wink.

There was a hint of irony with the situation as well. He fancied himself a player who probably went from woman to woman, the Gin she knew was reserved and was a one woman man. She had met Gin when she was on the verge of dying of starvation; now she was meeting Ginnei when she was emotionally hurt from the previous' death. Sure Eiyu was great company, but it was clear that he was more of a drinking buddy and friend than someone who she'd date. Contrary to popular belief in the Seireitei, she was rather picky about whom she dated.

"How much do you know about this Eiyu guy?" Gin asked as he poured himself some coffee.

"Not much" she sighed "he's friendly and open, but he hasn't told me anything about his past though. All I know is that he's here to get away from someone."

Gin just looked at the 'succubus' and could tell she was concerned. He knew the look all too well; he had seen it on the girls in his club's face very often. He knew how they looked when they were worried, scared, happy, sad, and even terrified. In one year they had put up with more fights and other shit than most had in a decade of living; even losing someone close. Even he felt the sting from that one; while he might not have liked the fact that Tsukune had the hottest girls in school around him, he was still friends with him.

"I'm sure he has his reasons" as he took a drink.

He knew something was up; the one in front of him didn't have the same scent as a succubus. There was a different scent; one he had never smelled before and couldn't quiet tell what it was. Either way though, the woman had an amazing body, didn't mind showing it off, and had a beautiful smile.

-Yachiru-

The smallest of the fuku-taichou was currently on a mission. It was of the extreme upmost importance; nothing else mattered until this mission was completed. The only problem was that her targets were well hidden; it didn't help that she was no good at sensing reiatsu unless it was at an extremely high level. Then, she spotted something black move slightly; one of her targets wasn't that far away and more than likely knew if she were to get too close and try to capture her. She'd have to be quick in capturing the person.

"Found ya; Yuka-chan" as she jumped into the bush and tackled the witch.

To ensure the witch didn't try to get away she started tickling the girl's sides. Yukari started going into a laughing fit as the Fairy tickled her sides. This was the absolute most fun she'd ever had; she was playing with someone her own age and it didn't bother her at all.

"We *haha* still *haha* need to find *haha* Mizore" she managed to say between laughing.

"Let's go this way" with a giggle as she started heading in a random direction dragging the witch with her.

-Soifon-

She could feel Tsukune's reiatsu leak from him as he continued to hold her. It was like it was wrapping around her to protect her from anything that could attack them. The warm feeling that came with his reiatsu was reassuring her that he was sincere about his offer to help her; while it was pointless, it was nice to hear him offer.

"Soifon-taichou" he asked gently as he let go of her "could… you possibly…" sounding like a serious question was coming "help me train?" as he looked away from her.

Soifon looked at him and could see that there was more on his mind than Second Division's symbol and training; it was in his eyes. It looked like he was seeking guidance for answers that he didn't have. Answers that could help him remember his life when he was living; as well as how Ghoul came to be. It was a look she knew and what it felt like to not know answers she didn't have; like why Yoruichi left.

Just before she could answer they heard a scream; not of horror, but of pain. Someone had been attacked. They quickly used shunpo and sonido to get to the area the scream came from. What they found was a girl with cuts all over her and passed out from the loss of blood. Soifon didn't recognize her, but Tsukune did.

"Mizore" he said in shock as he ran over to her.

"She needs to get to the infirmary" Soifon ordered just before Tsukune left with a static like boom; leaving her well behind.

The petite taichou looked around and didn't see anyone. Whoever did this was good at staying hidden, but not good at concealing their reiatsu; it was all over the place. The one that did this was weak, physically and in reiatsu; but there was still strong enough for her to sense. She couldn't interfere with the living's problem though; not unless it involved a Hollow, which it didn't. The one that did this was a living person.

Judging from the looks of things, Mizore didn't get a chance to fight back. She was either ambushed or knew the person that attacked her; she'd have to let the Safety Committee know whenever they go to ask her questions. This was something that bothered her a little; it didn't take much to see that this Safety Committee was corrupt and in need of a good beating. There was no telling how long they would take in tracking down whoever did this.

-Infirmary; one hour later-

Tsukune looked at his blood stained jacket and was scared; Mizore had lost a lot of blood. He couldn't get the image of her just laying there on the ground out of his head. The amount of blood that had started to pool next to her so soon after the attack showed that she was injured badly.

The yuki-ona was in surgery still; the doctor said that an artery was nicked and the bleeding had to be stopped. She'd need several stitches for each of the cuts that she got; from what he saw on her hoodie there were at least five. He should've just taken her to the training tavern that Urahara and Yoruichi had made. The water in the pool there could heal her better than these doctors can. There he could be with her to make sure she was alright and nothing went wrong; not that it could with the water Urahara put in the pool.

"Kenpachi" he heard a familiar voice.

Eiyu turned and saw Kuyo standing next to him. The Kitsune had the command presence that was expected of someone in his position; looking calm, cool, collected and confident.

"I need to take a statement from you" the Kitsune said as he handed a pad of paper and pen to Eiyu.

Eiyu didn't feel like making any statements until he knew his friend was alright. The last thing he wanted to do was accidently put something down that could blow his cover.

"Can it wait till I know she's alright?" he asked as he looked back at his blood stained jacket.

"It's better while it's fresh; I would've been here sooner, but there was a fight I had to break up between two vampires" with a noticeably irritated tone "brats wouldn't stop fighting till one of them yielded."

The duo said they wouldn't stop till the other was either knocked out or admitted defeat. Vampires and their pride; it was going to be the death of him if he had to put up with this every day. He had to admit though; the blonde vampire was strong and skilled with a katana. If she were a little stronger he was sure that she'd be able to join the Safety Committee next year.

"Kenpachi-san" the doctor said as he opened the door.

Eiyu quickly stood up and looked at the doctor; he was still in his scrubs and had the mask hanging around his neck.

"She'll be fine" with a smile "turns out two more arteries were barely scrapped and some of her muscles needed to be stitched together so there would be minimal scaring. You saved her life."

Eiyu let out a sigh of relief; his friend was going to be ok.

"Thank you" Eiyu said before he turned around and walked towards the exit "Kuyo-san, I'll take you to where I found her."

-Kokoa-

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" the vampire asked as she felt her muscles tighten up again.

Hiyori just smirked; while she was holding back, she did start to fight the Bean with more intensity after she made the bet. There was no way in hell she'd call anyone sama; besides, she was much stronger than the vampire. Shinji always said she had a problem with superiors; well… anyone that looked at her like she was lower than anyone. Probably something she picked up from being an orphan in the Rukongai with all the snotty adults and 'upper-class' people treating her like dirt.

"I taught myself" as she started eating the food in front of her.

"Bull shit! It had to be a family member; a brother, sister, mother, father, SOMEONE" Kokoa said in anger.

"I'm an orphan" the Vizored said as she looked down at her drink "I don't even have siblings. I've always been on my own and had to fight to protect myself."

Those words hit something in Kokoa; it made her feel so lucky to have her family, even though she didn't like most of them. Had she grown up like Hiyori, she probably wouldn't be here right now. It was because of Moka that she was as strong as she was right now; had her S-ranked sister not been there for her she would be just another weakling that was an insult to her species.

"You… you don't have any family…" with a surprised and shocked tone.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself;" with an irritated tone "I'm on my own. The closest thing I've ever had to family got transferred elsewhere and I got left behind!"

Everyone always acted so surprised when they found out that she was an orphan and it annoyed the shit out of her. It hurt when her original taichou got promoted to the Royal Guard of the Shinigami King and didn't even tell her. She felt abandoned and betrayed because of that; the closest thing to a mother she had ever known just left her. The burn from the healing process started when Kisuke became her taichou; then the idiot got mixed up in the shit Aizen had caused.

"That's why you're here?" the vampire asked "to get him back?"

She remembered the lengths she was willing to go to in order to try to free her Onee-sama from the seal that was placed on her and made the fake Moka appear. Those American scary movies were good for something other than causing Kahlua to cry about 'pointless deaths'; even though it was only a movie… Those were the only times that she felt superior to her only full sister; any other time she was doomed from the start.

"You wouldn't understand what I'm talkin' about. Just tell me where Kenpachi is so I can get outa here" as she stood up from her seat.

"I don't know where the weakling is" with a shrug of her shoulders.

The only time she cared where Eiyu was, was when he was around her sister, or when she was planning something against him. Currently, she wasn't doing any sort of planning and her Onee-sama was with that Newspaper Club of hers. Luckily none of her sister's friends had dragged the Fraccion into that club; if one of them did, she would be there to attack him whenever she felt like it.

"We had a deal" the blonde snapped as she grabbed her counterpart by her shirt "now tell me where he is!"

The Visored didn't want to waste time by being messed with like that. They made a deal and she won far and square; she'd get the information out of the vampire one way or another.

"I don't know where he is now," with a smile "but I know where he'll be in the mornin'."

"Fine" as she let go of Kokoa "I got nothin' better to do; so I guess I can stay a night."

-Eiyu-

He led the Kitsune in the direction that he had come from a little more than an hour ago. Even though he knew that Mizore was going to be alright, he still couldn't but to be worried about her; she had lost a lot of blood in a short amount of time and her body was a little warmer than usual. The Yuki-Onee was his friend when he was alive and again when he's a shinigami.

"How long have you known Shirayuki?" the Kitsune asked to break the silence that ensued each footstep.

Eiyu looked at the one that he would be answering to when he joined the Safety Committee and knew that he was getting information for an investigation.

"Only four days" he replied "she seems to be really nice and I don't know why someone would do that to her."

Kuyo looked at the ground and saw a few drops of blood that had a fall pattern pointing to the infirmary. The drops were lines, most likely because of how fast Eiyu would've been moving to get the yuki-ona to the infirmary. To make blood drops look like lines, he would've had to have been moving faster than many Yokai; possibly even faster than a werewolf. The Fraccion was starting to confirm the thought he had about him being an asset to the Safety Committee.

First he showed he could keep his posture in the face of danger when he killed that masked creature on his first day here. Being apart of the Safety Committee meant that one always had to maintain their command presence to keep from being questioned by others. With how much scrutiny the Safety Committee has been receiving ever since his defeat last year, maintaining a strong command presence is very important. More so since the Head Master was thinking about cutting some of their funds from the budget planning he was going to do in the next month. Eiyu also knows about the masked creatures that are attacking the Academy and even knows how to kill them. That was enough reason to excuse his disturbance on his first day; if he could defeat one that easily then he could be useful even if he didn't join the Safety Committee. The only true problem that could arise would be students questioning if the Safety Committee was actually doing anything. They had gotten enough of that when he was defeated by the S-rank vampire and werewolf.

The only thing that was possibly going to keep him from being able to join was the fact that he let the orange haired vampire attack him and he didn't do anything about it. If he was going to be a member of the Safety Committee then he'd have to knock the vampire down a few pegs and show he was willing to do what was necessary to maintain a superior status than other students. Although the Fraccion talked like he was a pacifist, he'd still be able to be a poster boy for the Committee at the very least. But the Safety Committee didn't need a pacifist joining them, they needed fighters that were stronger than any student they could end up facing. Eiyu's true strength was unknown to him and he could possibly be the only one that could take on the S-rank vampire in an all out fight and win.

"Do you have any classes with her?"

"I'm a freshman" Eiyu answered "so no."

"How well did you know her?" looking at him from the corner of his eye.

"Just that she's a yuki-ona and a sophomore" while he scratched his head "when we walked back from The Retreat she said that her species is endangered and she mentioned a flower offering ceremony. It happens every year for those of her species that's turning seventeen. She also said that she was hoping to have her friend escort her, but since he died she has to go alone."

Kuyo shook his head and saw that Kenpachi was clueless about what he was asking.

"Are you insinuating that he's the type that would have sex with a girl he just met?" they heard Soifon ask with a hint of venom in her voice.

If he was the type that would do that, Tsukune wouldn't have said anything about seeing her half naked. Hopefully Jagerjaquez wouldn't rub off on him and cause Tsukune to become someone who would have sex with just about anything in a skirt. That Arrancar annoyed her beyond any logical reason and she didn't want Tsukune to become anything like that.

"Soifon-sensei" Eiyu said with surprise "you're still here…"

He half expected her to be looking for the one that attacked Mizore. She wasn't the type to just sit around and wait for someone; the taichou seemed to be more of the type that would leave after a few minutes.

"You two were together when you found Shirayuki" Kuyo said with suspension as he looked at Eiyu.

Eiyu had failed to mention that he was with someone when he found the yuki-ona. This could mean that either it slipped his mind while they were talking, or he felt that the sensei was the attacker and was protecting her. It wouldn't be the first time they've had issues with a sensei; there was Ririko-sensei who controlled students with her lamia abilities, and then there was Ishigami-sensei who kidnapped girls and turned them into statues. Not exactly a good reputation with sensei so far; of course that was nothing compared to some of the students. Even the latest additions to the academy were troublesome for him; Shuzen was a serious headache that didn't seem to have anything to treat it.

"She was helping me train" Eiyu answered "she was about to show me some martial arts moves when we heard Mizore scream."

"Training huh?"

"What are you suggesting?" Soifon asked with narrowed eyes.

She already knew what he was suggesting; he thought that she and Eiyu were romantically involved. That was not true in any manner of speaking; she was his superior and impersonating his sensei, it would be unethical and completely unprofessional. While a part of her wanted to at least try, she knew that it wouldn't work out without him being a part of another division. Even then, it'd be hard for them to see each other; she was a taichou with paperwork, subordinates, and meetings to deal with. Why was she suddenly trying to plan things out like this? It wasn't going to happen; not at all. Maybe the 'not at all' part was a lie; there was a better chance of her getting with Tsukune than several others she knows.

"Just questioning rather or not you speak the truth" as he turned to Eiyu.

-Kokoa and Hiyori-

The Visored looked at the plain white room and felt slightly out of place. The walls were plain, blank and held nothing on them; gave an empty feeling. She didn't like that feeling; having a hollow within her was bad enough, but having to stare at empty walls was stupid. Her red-head counterpart must have something that she could hang on the walls; a picture, painting, hell she'd settle for a jazz record as long as something was put on the walls.

"Don't ya have somethin' to hang on yer walls?" Hiyori asked.

Kokoa just looked back at the blonde vampire and then to the walls. While they were blank, she honestly didn't care too much; her room back home wasn't much different. She kept her walls blank to keep her family from thinking she was a child by taping up posters, pictures, or even a mirror hanging on it.

"Not really" the vampire said with a shrug "I don't care for childish decorations. Couldn't stand them back home."

"Better to look childish than feel empty;" Hiyori replied back "you have family, you should at least have a picture of them somewhere" looking around and not seeing a picture.

Kokoa looked at the Visored and could see that if she had a family, she'd have a picture of them on her. The look in her blonde counterpart's eyes showed that she was upset that someone with a family wouldn't have a picture of them. It had to be something dealing with the fact that the blonde was an orphan and abandoned; life didn't seem fair at all.

"I'll see if I can find somethin'" the red haired vampire said.

-Grimmjow-

He just looked at the feline in front of him after hearing a plan that she proposed. It was a damn good one too, but he had his doubts that it would work. Aono was too much of a pussy to even try to make a move on the flat chest taichou; it would take serious motivation for him to make a slightly lewd comment to her. The odds of him asking the taichou out on a date were none existent; however, with what the princess was proposing there wouldn't be a dinner or movie. The panther Arrancar believed he had a better chance fighting against the sou-taichou than Tsukune suddenly sacking up and having sex with the petite taichou.

"I'll bite and say it sounds like a good idea" he said with a sigh "but I highly doubt that Aono will do anything."

"You have either great confidence in his control" Yoruichi said as she crossed her arms over her massive chest "or very little in his ability to act on his desires."

Lust is a powerful thing, it could break even the best of people and cause issues for them; the Arrancar in front of her was a very good example. He was an Espada and most likely had a personality underneath his Hierro somewhere. Yet she found him in a sensei when she tapped on his window; a perfect example of lust taking control of someone.

"Wouldn't surprise me either way" as he leaned against the boulder behind him "but I've seen him around six chicks, that I know of, and haven't smelled anything close to sex on him. Either he's extremely good at cleaning himself up, or he hasn't fucked anyone."

"Are you willing to bet on it?" the Shihoin asked with a smile.

"Yer damn right!" he said with a grin.

"Good" Yoruichi said "the loser has to be the victor's servant for a month. No limitations on what can be ordered and if the servant fails to comply, the time starts over."

Grimmjow's ears twitched at the mention of no limitations; a perverse grin grew on his face as he thought of the first thing he'd order. He wanted the Shihoin princess to join him and Shizuka in bed. Rather anyone that knows him believes it or not, it was Shizuka that mentioned the possibility of a threesome. He wasn't gonna say no, what self respecting male would turn down a threesome when it was the female partner that mentioned it?

"What are the rules?"

"One, they can't know about the bet;" the feline started "if they know it could sway them one way or another about them getting together. Two, no outside interference from us in any way other than what we talked about earlier; after that it'll be up to them. Three, should they find out about the bet, it will become void. Four, the winner is decided by both Soifon and Tsukune saying they've gotten together…"

"Why not just make it when they fuck each other?"

If that were the case, he'd win for sure; there was no way that Tsukune was going to have the balls to fuck the flat-chested taichou.

"Alright;" with her usual sadistic grin "now all we need is a time limit. How does six weeks sound?"

"Fine by me" with a perverse chuckle "just out of curiosity; can ya change yer form so you have cat ears and tail?"

"Yes, I can" she purred "but only Kisuke has seen that form."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Grimmjow sighed as he looked around and didn't see anything worth mentioning. There weren't even any basic hollow around for him to eat; the last time he ate a hollow was after his second battle with Ichigo and he got his left arm back. While the small fasting was barely noticeable to the Arrancar, he still didn't want to risk having his power regress in any way. He was regretting not taking advantage of the hollows that attacked the Seireitei and devouring their reiatsu to add to his strength. Being an Arrancar meant that he could go for at least a year without feeling any traces of hunger; so long as he didn't do any fighting in that time frame. If he were to engage in a fight, then he'd be able to go about a month without eating; a serious fight though, about a week, maybe less.

"Patrol sucks" he sighed as he rubbed the remainder of his mask.

"The other night there were several hollows" he heard Tsukune say as he appeared with sonido.

The Arrancar had asked him to do patrol with him; the reason was unknown though. Maybe the panther wanted to get extra sonido training in, possibly so he could learn more about the area, or even just to have someone to talk to.

"Lucky" the Arrancar sighed.

He looked up at the night sky and saw that it was a moonless night; they'd have to rely on Pesquisa to find any hollow that might be around. The lack of moon was different than what he was used too; change was a constant for every hollow, even those that are now Arrancar. A month ago, had someone told him that he'd be working alongside a shinigami he would've killed them; yet here he stands, teaching one. Then again, Aono was a normal shinigami; he had Arrancar powers that could eventually allow him to become strong enough to rival even the strongest of Vasto Lorde. That in itself was a scary thought; he was a shinigami with Arrancar abilities, that combination would allow his strength to continue growing with minimal difficulty unlike normal Arrancar who had their growth limited when they became Arrancar.

"How long have ya been interested in yer taichou?" the panther asked with a grin.

Soifon sprayed the water she was drinking everywhere when Yoruichi asked her that question. Tsukune was her subordinate and they were on a mission that required them to be focused and ready for any attack that could happen. Yet her mentor was here asking her if she told the chocolate haired boy about her interest in him. Just when she thought she'd be able to hang out with her mentor without being teased like this; said mentor asked that question.

"Yoruichi-sama!" the petite taichou exclaimed.

"I'm being serious Bee;" the Neko said as she leaned against the wall behind her "the boy seems nice enough. You've even called him by first name; that only proves that you're interested in him. I know that you've hugged him;" with a mischievous grin "I saw you two earlier today."

Soifon immediately turned beat red; she didn't anyone was around. She had checked only moments before Tsukune had hugged her; she'd ask how the Neko did it, but the princess wasn't called Goddess of the Flash for nothing. The Shihoin probably showed up while she was focused on Tsukune's reiatsu; kami it was so soothing to her. The feeling still lingered in her, but it was nothing compared to having the source pressed against her body; it was addicting after just the first exposure to it.

"My Bee's finally experiencing love;" Yoruichi giggled "to think, only a century or so ago you only showed an interest in a man when you had an itch to scratch. And speaking of that; when's the last time you got laid?"

Tsukune was almost neon red now thanks to the questions his Arrancar mentor was asking him. He wasn't the type that would do something like that and brag about it; it wasn't right. A gentleman doesn't go around bragging about things like that; not only was it rude, but it's completely inappropriate.

"I'm serious;" Grimmjow said "when's the last time you've fucked a chick? It had to be recently; you've got six chicks around ya…"

"Seven" the boy said in a low tone.

"What?" in disbelief of what he just heard.

There was another chick that he met and knew him. The Arrancar felt like he was missing a huge piece to the puzzle that was in front of him; they haven't even been here for a week, and he's met four local chicks that are pretty hot. The boy had to have had a dog or something with him when he was here while he was alive or something to have attracted all these chicks.

"The other night I met someone who I saved from a place called the Witches' Knoll; she tried to help me remember my past."

"Did you fuck her?" in a serious tone; Tsukune remained quiet, only causing a vein in Grimmjow's forehead to pulse "I am this close" as he used his thumb and index finger to give Tsukune an idea "to pulling yer sexuality into question."

"I've been interested in Soifon-taichou since I beat her fuku-taichou" Tsukune said getting back to the original question.

"Finally;" the Arrancar said loudly "now we're gettin' somewhere. I personally prefer chicks with a large rack," as his hands twitched as if they were groping a large pair of breasts "but whatever does it for ya. I remember the size of Harribel's rack; damn those things were just as big as Nel's, maybe a lil' bigger. Would've banged her too, but the bitch was so fuckin' cold and up tight that she makes yer taichou look like a cheeky schoolgirl. Unless…" as his eyes narrowed at Tsukune "you like the challenge. That's gotta be it; of all the chicks you've met, yer fallen for the one that's the hardest to figure out. Hell; that one fuku-taichou seemed really eager to find you yesterday and I didn't see any signs on ya that would've told me you got laid."

"What are you saying Yoruichi-sama?" Soifon asked in a confused tone.

The Shihoin princess had just suggested that her Bee liked a guy with a mysterious background that hardly anyone knew about. It wouldn't surprise Yoruichi too much if that were true; her pupil always did enjoy a challenge. Of course, that was when it came to training and not emotions; when it came to emotions, the Neko didn't have any idea what her Bee liked. The petite taichou never really had a boyfriend that she could recall; not that Yoruichi ever gave her much of a chance to date when the current taichou was under her.

"I'm just saying that I think you like the mystery that's behind Tsukune;" the Neko said with a shrug of her shoulders "if Kisuke had been the same way, I wouldn't have waited a year before I would've seduced him. Of course he really wasn't complaining when he was sucking on my nipples;" with a blush as she recalled her first time with her former third seat "that was a fun night" with a perverse grin and sigh of pleasure.

"YORUICHI-SAMA!" Soifon shouted in disgust "I don't want to hear about what you let that man do to you! If it weren't for the fact that you've said you enjoy it I would've killed that man at least three times over by now!"

"Shesh" the Shihoin said "I guess it has been a long time since you've gotten laid. The last guy you were with couldn't have been very fun if you're this tense. You seriously need to get laid" as she walked over to the window, opened it, and vanished.

With those words Tsukune quickly use sonido to go back to his room and hide his beat red face from his mentor. He had to get away from the Arrancar to keep from having a permanent blush on his face.

"That actually worked" Grimmjow said in disbelief as he sensed Yoruichi appear behind him.

"Now we wait;" the Neko said with a sadistic smile "how blushed was he?"

"I think he'll still have a blush in the mornin'" the panther answered "what about yer flat chested pupil?"

"I think she'll have interesting dreams for a while."

XXXXX

Author's Note:

I'm sorry this chapter took so long; serious writer's block. I had to cut this chapter short because of its slow nature.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter took so long. I had a paper due for my college class and then suffered from writer's block. The opening is a lemon; you have been warned…

Continuing the story,  
Demon.

xxxxx

Tsukune dodged Soifon's fist as best he could, but still got hit in the side. The petite taichou wanted to train him properly rather than let him be some bar room brawler. She wasn't holding back against him at all; she was treating him like a recruit out of the Academy and wanted to see just what his Arrancar mentor has been teaching him. If the egotistical panther has actually been doing anything to improve the boy's combat skills or merely using him as an outlet while they waited for hollows to attack so they could take care of it. Whichever it was, Tsukune's speed had increased since she last sparred against him while he was at the Shinigami Academy; obviously the horny panther was doing something right.

Soifon went to kick Tsukune in the head, but barely missed as he sonido away from the incoming foot. The taichou might be small, but that didn't mean there was no power behind her attacks; she had put Grimmjow on his ass when they sparred back in the Seireitei. Said Arrancar decided it would be a good idea to harass some of the nurses in the Fourth Division Clinic. That spar pushed the Arrancar's release date back a few days.

The taichou heard the static boom behind her and jumped up to avoid the sweep that was heading to her feet. The chocolate haired boy was a fast learner, but not fast enough. She spun around and landed two powerful kicks right in her pupil's chest knocking him to the ground. There were problems with his fighting style; for starters, he was too predictable. That was the same attack he had started the spar with and it had the same result; only he recovered from the first one much quicker. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that even Kurosaki, in his current state, could beat the chocolate haired boy she was sparring against. She didn't give Tsukune a chance to recover; she shunpo on top of him and threw a punch at his chin, barely stopping before actually hitting him.

"You fight too much like an Arrancar;" she sighed as she got off the boy "you're training with Jagerjaquez too much. Speed is only useful for getting close to your opponent, and being close is only helpful if you can hit them. You couldn't land a single blow on me;" while watching Tsukune get up "your body is tense and that makes it harder for you to dodge without using sonido. If your opponent sees that you favor using sonido to avoid their attacks then they can use that against you by pushing you away from them so they can prepare a distance attack."

Tsukune listened as he felt the sweat in his hair roll down his face and to the ridge of his brow. His petite taichou was barely sweating at all, yet he was completely drenched in sweat. He was thankful that she was taking time to help him with his abilities, however limited his shinigami abilities were.

"You are progressing though" as she walked towards the pool that would heal any wound.

Right now she just wanted to soak in the pool of cool water and try to relax; this mission has been one headache after another. She found it hard to believe that Jagerjaquez was only a small part of that headache instead of the entire thing. Tsukune's homeroom sensei was annoying as hell; not to mention just as creepy as Kurotsuchi and always went on about how stupid others were. It wouldn't bother the taichou if Grimmjow were to scare the shit out of the woman by showing her his Resurreccion one night. Then there were other sensei that irritated her to the point where she nearly snapped a neck or two.

She removed Suzumebachi from the sash around her waist and placed the zanpakuto on the ground next to the pool. It was tempting for her to strip out of her clothes and get in, but with Tsukune there she opted not to; her shinigami uniform needed to be rinsed off anyway, even in the gigai, her spiritual body did sweat a little. Another reason why she didn't take her uniform off was because while she might be interested in Tsukune, she didn't want to just take her clothes off in front of him; it could give him the wrong message. She kicked off her shoes next to her bee-like zanpakuto before stepping to the side of the pool; followed by her taichou haori after she untied her yellow sash.

As she lowered herself into the pool, it took a little bit before she felt the chill of the water as it soaked through her clothes. Her body tensed as the cool water hugged every part of her body and didn't let go. Her muscles were far tenser than normal; not being able to train every single day has caused her muscles to stiffen up and begin to cause her discomfort. Either she'd have to start waking up earlier to train before classes start, or she'll have to stay up later to get the training in; with the paperwork, teaching, and staff meetings she had to attend she wasn't in favor of either.

Tsukune took his zanpakuto from his sash and gently placed it against a nearby boulder just within reach. The next thing he took off was his top after he untied the sash that held it in place. The petite taichou could see the dirt that was clinging to the fabric as Tsukune held it out in front of him. Her eyes were drawn to massive X on his chest, it had always made her curious about his previous life; what did he do here when he was alive? He could've been on the Safety Committee with the guy that offered him a position on it; it would certainly explain the number of scars if that were the case, but something told her that he wasn't on the Committee. The boy didn't seem like he'd be willing to fight just because he was ordered too; he seemed to be more like Kurosaki and would do the right thing rather than follow orders that were bad.

"How'd you get that scar?" she asked him as he placed his top next to the pool.

"I can't remember" he said as he looked to the ground "and what I do remember still doesn't make sense to me. I can't tell how much time is in between what I remember, or if the flashes of memories are even in the right order;" while he took off his sandals "I know I was a student here, that I used to be friends with several girls, but that's all I can remember" as he stepped into the pool only arm's length away "ah… cold."

The taichou only shook her head when she heard that; he was different, she'd give him that. He was more focused on others rather than himself, which is probably why he hasn't mentioned Ghoul to her at all during their sparring match. The concern he had for others was stronger than his desire for self survival; he'd do what was right even if it cost him everything. Of course, him being dead already showed he had given everything up to protect others.

"Soifon-taichou" he said in a sad tone.

"What?"

There was an awkward silence that felt like it lasted forever. She could see that there was something he wanted to say; something serious that he felt needed to be said. If he was going to say that he noticed the way she's been unconsciously looking at him then she'd berate herself after somehow managing to explain it to the chocolate haired boy.

"I never thanked you for stopping me from killing that vampire" his eyes focused on the water in front of him "I couldn't control Ghoul; I was too weak and he even attacked you. He was going to kill that vampire and I couldn't do anything; I wasn't strong enough to stop myself…" his arm quickly grabbed her's, pulled her close to him, and locked her in a hug against his torso unable to move "thank you for stopping me. That was the second time you saved me" as he placed his head in the crook of her neck "I don't want to be that;" with a shaky voice "I don't want to be a hollow."

Soifon could feel the fear he had in his voice; it was fear that she didn't recognize. Sure she had been afraid on several occasions when she was training under Yoruichi, but nothing like this. His body was trembling at the mere thought of becoming the thing that had possessed him when they did their recon mission. The fear that had to be coursing through him because of events he couldn't remember that caused Ghoul to form within him; she couldn't seem to begin to imagine it.

That wasn't what was really bugging her though; it was the warmth of his breath rolling over the crook of her neck and down her spine. The tingling sensation that accompanied the warm breath caused her to begin to blush even more than when Yoruichi teased her. Surprisingly though, she liked it and didn't want it to go away. She freed her arms from Tsukune's hug and wrapped them around his torso to hold him closer to her. As soon as her hands found his shoulder blades, she tenderly ran them down his back feeling every little scar that was there. Each scar that has been on his skin for who knows how long and what each one meant to him when he had his memories. Tsukune muttered something into the crook of her neck; causing the vibrations from his words to send shivers of pleasure through her body.

"What?" she managed to say instead of letting out a moan of pleasure.

"I… I want you Soifon" Tsukune said as he looked her in the eyes just before kissing her.

The petite taichou was caught so off guard by not just the statement but the action as well she didn't know how to react. His voice was gentle, and sincere; just as it had always been when he talked to her. If that wasn't enough, his kiss wasn't just an empty one that was often used in the one night stands she had, there was something foreign in it; passion. Her world seemed to stop as Tsukune pulled her closer to his body and deepened the kiss; she now had absolutely no idea how to react in any way to this. Her body wanted to return the kiss with her own, but her mind was arguing against the action; she was a taichou and this was completely inappropriate, but it felt good.

Tsukune pulled away and looked at her; something told her that he thought she was afraid of him, afraid of what was inside him. The look in his eyes showed that he was thinking just that; she would have to vocalize her feelings to show she wasn't afraid of Ghoul. There was nothing for her to be afraid of, she had shown that she could handle Ghoul if he somehow managed to possess him again and it was obvious that Tsukune was in control because of the lack of the flame tattoo and mask forming.

"I'm not afraid of Ghoul" she said as she pulled Tsukune close to her "and I want you too" as she felt her cheeks start to burn from the blush growing on her face.

She leaned forward and kissed him; not wanting anything else but to keep her mind from stopping her. She had deprived herself of sexual release for the past hundred and five years, but this wasn't going to be just another one-night-stand that would be a quick fix; no, the passion that Tsukune had kissed her with only moments before told her this would be more. The kiss became even deeper when Tsukune began returning the kiss with his own and even more so when he pulled her body so flush against hers she could feel the muscles that were starting to form on him. The intense training regimen that he was putting himself through was starting to have visual effects on his body; the muscles on his back were starting to become more defined since he was burning what little fat he had on him away.

Her hand began to trail back up his scarred back and to his neck; as she ran her hand over the first scar, he took a noticeable sharp intake. She concluded that she had pushed down on the scar too much as she ran her hand over it and jabbed the underlying muscle. The number of scars on just his back told her that he fought fiercely when he did fight. While the scars where small, they were still surprisingly numerous; they were most likely from large splinters, sharp rocks, or any other thing that could be found on a battlefield.

She let out a moan as she felt his hand snake up and down her spine. The soft skin on the back of his fingers gingerly made their way back down his back; another moan of pleasure escaped her as she broke the kiss. The simple pleasure that she'd never experienced before was making her regret not being a little more like her mentor. It was like ecstasy to her; each tender motion that Tsukune has made against her skin had caused her to feel waves of physical pleasure. Not even the member of the Fourth Division from her last one-night-stand made her feel this good; Tsukune's hands were magical, able to find the best places to touch her and in just the right way.

His hands stopped again when they reached the fabric on the back of her neck. She knew Tsukune well enough to know that he didn't want to just strip her top off without her being ok with it. With a nod of approval, she leaned back and allowed Tsukune to take the black garment off her torso; blushing from the slight discomfort of not taking it off herself like she'd always done before. A gasp escaped her mouth as she felt his left hand slide against her stomach and get underneath the fabric; the callus on his hands that had started forming gave her the right mixture of rough and smooth on her slender midriff.

Her blush deepened as he gently pushed the fabric off her shoulders and let it sink into the water around them; she had never worn anything underneath her top because of the hybrid technique that Yoruichi called Shunko would shred anything on her back. This was also one reason why she never wore a bra; if she were to use Shunko in a fight, the garment would get ripped to shreds in a second. The other reason was that with their smaller size she could easily keep her breasts in place with just her normal top; a mixed blessing was how she saw it. While they could be considered a good size for her height, she did wish they would be a bit bigger; then she'd at least be able to same something about her was average. She saw Tsukune starring at her; with the way he was looking at her she couldn't tell what he was thinking. However, she didn't have to wonder for long.

"Beautiful" he said just as he moved to kiss her again.

She pressed her body against his, pinning him against the side of the pool with only the top half of his back exposed to the air; no one had ever made that complement to her during any of her one-night-stands. It was a serious blow to her self-esteem about her body and possibly nearly ruined any chances she thought she could have in finding a serious relationship. Yet, Tsukune made the complement without hesitating because she was looking at him; he really thought she was beautiful, and that was more than enough for her to do this. Another moan escaped her as she felt Tsukune's burned palm slide up her left side and move towards her breast; the burnt skin tickled her side when he slowly moved his hand up it.

His thumb gently caressed the side of her breast once his hand reached its destination. She parted her chest from his and allowed his hand access to her bare skin. Already she could feel the winding in her that told her she was closing in on her climax; Tsukune hadn't done anything but touch her torso and she was already feeling her climax creeping up on her, his hands were magical trinkets to worship. Even more pleasure was added when he ran his burnt palm over her slightly sensitive nipple; not being sexually active had caused her cherry-sized nipples to maintain their sensitivity to anything that touched them other than the fabric of her top.

Once he had his hand on her breast, he gently squeezed the mound of flesh and earned a sharp breath from the petite taichou he had on him. Said taichou only encouraged the action again with a moan as he kept his grip on her flesh. Tsukune repeated the action again and again, now massaging the firm mounds with his fingers and palm. He broke their kiss and kissed her along her jaw, slowly making his way to and down her neck; placing tender kisses right next to the spot he had just left. Soifon's breath hitched when he got to her neck; at first it felt like a pleasurable electric shock had shot up and down her spine as his warm lips pressed against her skin and then left it just as gently as they met. Each time after that was ecstasy to her sense of touch and drove her closer to her climax.

As soon as he reached the crook of her neck he gave it a tender lick; admiring the taste of salt on her skin while he traced his kisses back up her neck with his tongue. She was so close to snapping right there and cumming without a care of what he was doing, but she wanted to know what else he was going to do before she released herself. Every ounce of discipline was being taxed like never before as she felt Tsukune begin to kiss his way back down her neck. Now his lips were a little moist thanks to his tongue and slowly making their way to her collar bone with just as much tenderness as he had going down her neck the first time.

She leaned her head back to give him more room to move, as well as let out a very sharp gasp when he made his way along her collar bone. Every one-night-stand she had had was filled with only empty desire and simple lust kisses that were nowhere near as passionate and tender as these kisses were. Each kiss felt methodically placed, calculated to give the most pleasure as well as get the best response from her. She felt like she was going to be killed from the tension that was slowly becoming too much if she didn't let it go soon. She closed her eyes and tried to hold off her climax as best she could; the desire for even more pleasure was taking over her body as she felt Tsukune's lips begin to make their way down her chest. She unconsciously slid herself up on Tsukune's torso to give him better access to the mound he was moving towards.

The moist, tender kisses on her breast sent waves of electricity through her and caused her to drag her nails along his back in an attempt to postpone her release. She heard his hiss from the pain as planted another kiss just above her nipple; just the knowledge of him being that close to her sensitive flesh made it harder for her to fight off her climax. If what he's done prior to reaching the cherry-sized nipple was anything to go by, then as soon as he places his lips on the most sensitive part of her torso she'd cum; hard.

Tsukune pulled away from the gentle kiss he had placed on his taichou's breast and looked at her stiffened nipple. Without thinking, he flicked it with his tongue just before he took the pink flesh to his lips. This two action motion pushed Soifon over the edge; her head snapped back and she let out an inaudible scream of pleasure as she came just as hard as she thought she would. She could feel her walls trying to grip on something that wasn't there while her body released the juices that showed just how aroused she was. No one had ever made her cum before giving her pussy a good licking, and even then it was nowhere near as hard as what she had just experienced.

She dug her nails into his shoulders as he continued to suck on one nipple and massage the other; forcing her body to extend her climax. His moist tongue circled her stiffened nipple numerous times; flicking it each time a lap was completed. It was like he knew just what to do to get her to climax, and keep her there. The release was more than welcomed, but having it go on for this long was unreal; she didn't think that she could cum for this long. Her legs started to give, but Tsukune caught her with his left hand by grabbing her butt; forcing a moan of pleasure to finally escape her.

The petite taichou gently pulled Tsukune off her nipple and kissed him; this allowed her to stop cumming. She pushed her tongue between Tsukune's lips and rubbed it against his teeth asking for entry. He complied and opened his mouth. As soon as she had her tongue in his mouth, she began to explore; finding that all his teeth were still there and none of them had even a crack in them. She was expecting to find a few missing from some of the fights he'd been in when he was alive, but all of them were there. She personally had two or three fake teeth from having them knocked out in various battles over her long life; the latest one being from her fight with the Segunda's Fraccion. Three teeth over roughly two hundred years wasn't too bad; she knew that Madarame held the record for over five dozen in only seventy years.

It became apparent that Tsukune finally got the hint when he pushed his own tongue into her mouth. This was a first for her, she's never done this type of kiss with any of her previous one-night-stands, but this wasn't a one-night-stand; it felt like so much more. They both wanted each other, they'd admitted that just before all this started; she knew how much she wanted Tsukune, but wasn't sure if Tsukune felt the same way. Their tongues began to circle around each other almost like a dance, a dance that slowly became a battle for dominance in the other's mouth. Tsukune lowered her a bit so that they could make-out easier.

Soifon gasped when she felt something hard press against her pussy when Tsukune lowered her. He was just as aroused as she was by what they were doing. It might have felt a little wrong for her to be doing this, but it also felt so right. He has done more for her than all but one person; got her shoes that were far more comfortable than tennis shoes, offered to help her beat Yoruichi even though he did interrupt her to offer, and he wasn't treating her like she was just some cold bitch. Now she'd admit it to herself, she was falling for Tsukune; rather hard too.

Her gasp had cost her the ground she had in her tongue duel with Tsukune; he forced his way into her mouth and explored every part of it. She could feel his tongue run over her teeth as she refused to fight the invading muscle out of her mouth. This was actually enjoyable to her; when Yoruichi first told her about this type of kiss, she thought she'd hate it, the thought of someone else's tongue in her mouth made her feel weird. That feeling was pushed aside and easily disposed of when the chocolate haired boy pushed his tongue in her mouth.

She unconsciously began to grind her hips against his; her body wanted more pleasure and another release. As she ground her hips against his, she also rubbed her pussy against his hard member and started to feel something tightening up in her. She added more force to her grinding as she pulled her body closer to Tsukune's; the motion was more than welcomed as Tsukune picked her up with him as he stood and set her on the edge of the pool. Luckily they were in the shallower part of the pool and they didn't have to break from their kiss until Tsukune slid his hands down her sides and underneath the sash she uses to hold her pants up.

She pulled away from the kiss and looked at him; she had never noticed how much taller he was than her. Even now he was still slouched over a bit so he could look in her eyes; he had at least six inches more to his height than she did. While it sucked being her height, she didn't care at the moment; the only thing she cared about was being with Tsukune. With a nod from the petite taichou, he pulled her pants down and the underwear with it. She let out a mental sigh of relief when he pulled her panties down with her pants, she didn't feel like explaining the black and yellow stripped design; Suzumebachi somehow managed to convince her that the style was a good idea.

It didn't take long for her to realize that Tsukune had already pulled his pants down and had his member lined up with her womanhood. He had hungry eyes that showed he wanted to fuck her; to be honest with herself, she liked it.

"Do it" she ordered him without hesitation.

The words no more left her mouth and he was pushing himself into her. She could feel her walls being forcibly stretched back out and forcing her into another climax that made it hard for her to breathe. Normally she wouldn't have cared how many times she cummed as long as she did, but twice in only a few minutes was messing with her head. It didn't help that she also had Tsukune's warm, throbbing member in her and her back was scrapping against the rough ground around the pool with each movement he made. The high she was feeling was without equal. Cold water splashed up and on her as Tsukune slammed back into her hard. He continued to move in and out of her as she clawed at the ground from the pleasure she was feeling. Not only was he pushing himself closer to his own climax, but he was about to force another on his petite taichou.

"I'm… I'm gonna cum" he said.

Soifon shot up; her body was drenched in sweat with her heart pounding in her chest hard enough to bust out of the cage it was held in. Everything was dark and she could feel the bed sheets around her body; which were just as drenched as she was. She was still in her room; she suddenly remembered that she immediately hid under her covers when Yoruichi left after making her comments. As she looked around the dark room the light from her alarm clock caught her eye; when she looked at it she saw that it was only three in the morning.

"It was just a dream…" she said with disbelief as she wiped the sweat from her face "it felt so real…" as she looked down "damn you Yoruichi-sama. You have to be kidding me" in frustration when she felt a wet spot on her sheets.

Her dream was more than just a dream, it was a wet dream. That explained how Tsukune was able to find all the spots on her body that he found. Because it was a dream, it was what she wanted to happen in real life.

"I won't be able to get back to sleep now" in frustration as she began stripping her bed.

While the thought of having sex with Tsukune like that did turn her on, she berated herself for letting it happen. She was his acting taichou and they were on a mission. They didn't have the time or the luxury of doing anything; not that it would be appropriate or professional anyway. As she made her way to the laundry room she continued to berate herself; this was starting to be a normal thing for her. Ever since they've deployed here for basic reconnaissance she's had to berate herself almost daily because of stupid things. First, letting her personal anger prevent her from filling Tsukune in on basic recon tactics. Second was when she let her rank slip when she knocked Ghoul out. Next was when she left out the fact that Tsukune had a hollow side in her report. The list goes on up until now; and something told her that list wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

She opened the washer and put her stuff in it; her mind unable to focus on anything thanks to her dream. She could swear that she could still feel his callus hands rubbing her back and sides.

"A cold shower should clear my head" as she started the machine and headed back towards her room to get a towel.

-Kokoa-

The red haired vampire stood next to her blonde counterpart with slight annoyance from everyone starring at them. It wasn't hard to believe that there was someone that looked like her on the campus. Ok maybe that was a lie, but still; it shouldn't cause this much of a fuss. Everyone just kept starring at them and the only thing that was keeping her from knocking some sense into them was the fact that Hiyori said she was going to knock Kenpachi across the gym with a single hit. She did not want to miss that. One solid hit; that's all it'll take from the blonde 'vampire'. Then she'd finally be able to laugh at the Fraccion and call him weak and other degrading names.

"Here he comes" the blonde girl said as she kicked her flip-flop off and grabbed it in midair.

It amazed her how alike the two were. They both had similar tastes in music, hated being treated like a child, and they were both extremely aggressive.

"SURPIRSE!" Hiyori shouted as she smacked Eiyu in the face with the flip-flop.

The hit sent Eiyu bouncing across the gym floor and into a wall causing him to leave an indent where he hit. He should've thought something was going to happen when he felt the strong reiatsu outside the boys' locker room. It was too strong to be Kokoa's and didn't feel like the silver haired vampire's either; just who was this girl? He didn't have time to think when he saw a pair of feet coming at him before he could get up. The impact of the feet against his face stung and smashed him back into the wall giving him a concussion.

"I told ya I'd find ya" the blonde girl said as she continued to beat the shit out of him.

"Huh?" was all he could say between hits from the flip-flop to his face.

"DON'T 'huh?' ME!" she shouted angrily "IT'S ME SARUGAKI HIYORI!"

Eiyu blinked his eyes a couple times and let them come into focus. At first he thought it was Kokoa playing a prank on him, but he noticed the differences between the two. Kokoa's hair was longer and a completely different color, she didn't wear a red track suit, or have a zanpakuto tied to her back.

"Hiyori-chan?" he finally said after looking into rage filled eyes.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NEVER TO CALL ME THAT?" she shouted as she hit him with her flip-flop again.

Everyone just watched in complete disbelief that Kenpachi Eiyu, the same person that had been offered a spot on the Safety Committee, was just blindsided by a flip-flop. Rumor had it that he put Saizo on the ground with only one hit; something that only a few were said to be able to do. Yet here he was getting the daylights beat out of him by a girl half his size with a flip-flop…

"Who is that girl?" Moka asked her younger sister.

"Sarugaki Hiyori" Kokoa said "she's the vampire that weakling came here to avoid. Didn't work out so well did it?" she laughed at the Fraccion.

Moka heard the sound of someone barking orders for people to move out of the way; when she looked back she saw Saizo and his goons walking over to Eiyu and Hiyori. She had heard that Saizo got the crap beat out of him by someone that looked like her sister, but thought it actually was her sister until she saw the girl in the red track suit when she came out of the girls' locker room. This year was starting to become weirder than last year.

"Saizo…" she growled as she started to walk over to the Fraccion and vampire.

The Monstrel looked like he was on a mission to get revenge; nothing to out of the ordinary for him. What made it obvious that he was out for revenge was the fact that he brought his goons with him to gang up on whoever their target was. This was similar to what he did last year to Tsukune while he and her sealed self were walking back from class; it nearly killed him too. The one that made the lethal wound on Tsukune was also walking alongside Saizo and the others.

She was not going to let them harm Eiyu like they did Tsukune; even though she still had a gut feeling that Eiyu was Tsukune. Everything about his personality said that he was Tsukune, and she was going to prove it one way or another. He had to still have the scars on his chest that would ultimately prove that he was Tsukune and not Eiyu; it was going to be hard to get his shirt off though. While she could always try to subdue him, she'd rather save that for a last resort.

"I have a score to settle with you brat" Saizo said as he changed into his true form when he got behind her.

Hiyori looked back and saw an ugly troll looking beast behind her. She didn't really care; the creature's reiatsu was low, not even midlevel basic Hollow, so there was no reason to feel remotely threatened. He didn't look intimidating at all either; she's seen small hallows that look far more intimidating than the Yokai behind her. Besides, she didn't come here to fight losers like the idiot behind her; she came here to grab Kenpachi and go back to Karakura Town so he could learn to control his hallow.

"I kicked yer ass once already;" she said as she turned her attention back to Kenpachi, who looked like he had a hint of anger in his eyes directed to the one behind her, "now get lost."

"DON'T IGNORE ME YOU BRAT!" as he took a swing at the 'vampire'.

Hiyori didn't have time to react before she felt a small gust of wind move her hair. Kenpachi was no longer in front of her, he was behind her.

'_He's fast…'_ she thought as she turned around to see him holding Saizo's fist like it was nothing.

Her mind suddenly replayed the first time she went to the Maggot's Nest with Kisuke. He had stopped an attack directed at her in the same manner. That was when she started to have some respect for the weird man. That day he showed her why he was promoted to the level of taichou and just how skilled he was without a zanpakuto.

"You should know better than to attack my friends;" Eiyu said as he flared his reiatsu "now I'm going to show you my true strength."

Without another word he lifted the large Monstrel up over his head and threw him across the gym. Not even Moka was expecting the Fraccion to be that strong; sure she suspected he was stronger than he let on, but not that much. He had picked up the Monstrel with ease and completely launched him back towards the door he had come from. She should have known he was that strong though, after all he did stop one of her axe kicks without much trouble.

Hiyori was not only surprised at the amount of reiatsu that the boy had, but the raw strength he possessed as well was unreal. The Kenpachi in front of her didn't look anywhere near strong enough to pick up the Monstrel that he had protected her from; yet he did. Add that to the fact that he had enough reiatsu to be a fourth seat in just about any Division, or even possibly a fuku-taichou, being slightly intimidated would be a good statement.

The Monstrel that had nearly killed Tsukune last year changed his hands into blades and attacked Eiyu in the same manner that he did Tsukune; with an attack that made an X. She wanted to move to help him, but she felt someone's hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"This is his fight" she heard Jagerjaquez-sensei tell her "don't interfere."

"You were offered a spot on the Safety Committee?" the Monstrel laughed "they must be getting desperate…"

Before he could continue his gloat, he felt something grab his arm just before a fist connected with his face. Eiyu wasn't harmed by the attack that the Monstrel did. The only thing the Monstrel's bladed hands did was cut his shirt to pieces; showing his torso to everyone. There were no scars on his gigai, but he wasn't concerned if anyone saw a scar or not; he was focused on the fight he was in. As soon as his fist connected with the Monstrel's face, he threw another punch into his gut and sent the Monstrel backwards into the crowd around them with blood coming out of his mouth.

He spun around just in time to duck underneath a swing from the other Monstrel. It was a good thing Grimmjow was training him the way he was; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to dodge the attack. His reflexes allowed him to dodge another attack with ease just before he landed half a dozen punches to the Monstrel's gut and knocked him out. His opponents were slow, even by his standards; he saw the Monstrel with bladed hands attack him, but he wanted to show them he wasn't afraid to take a hit.

When he knocked out the third Monstrel, Saizo was back in the brawl; everyone could see the anger in his eyes. He had just been thrown across the gym like a rag doll. Only a few people were strong enough to do that; Chopper, Moka, and the head of the Safety Committee being three of them. The stereotypical bully threw a punch that was easily dodged and countered with a powerful punch to the jaw; the force felt like it was going to crack the jaw, if not completely break it. He's never fought anyone as fast as the Fraccion and it was showing as he took hit after hit to the gut, chest and face. Eiyu finished the fight with an extremely powerful punch to the Monstrel's gut and knocking the large opponent out.

"Nicely done" Grimmjow said.

"Thank you Grimmjow-sama" Eiyu said as he looked to his mentor.

"You could've ended it quicker though" as the panther looked at the four Monstrels on the ground "and you could've dodged that one's attack. But it's good to see ya have Hierro now; you're gettin' stronger faster than I thought ya would. If it weren't for the fact it was four on one I would be kickin' yer ass for takin' so long. Ya got yer exercise for the day; go take care of whatever it is Blondie came here to do with ya."

-Hiyori and Eiyu-

"So…" Eiyu said as Hiyori finished explaining what Visoreds are "because I have a Hollow side of me, I'm one of these Visoreds?" Hiyori nodded. "And you want me to go with you to where Ichigo-san lives and train to control him and use his power whenever I need it?"

All this was a bit of a surprise to him; Ichigo never mentioned what all went into the training he went through to gain control of his hollow. And if everything the former shinigami said was true, then he would be able to use his Hollow's power in a fight if he needed too. There was a slight problem though; he had to be here and wasn't sure if he would be able to complete the training successfully.

"Hai" with a noticeably irritated tone "weren't ya listenin ya Baka? You'll have to come with me for a few days to make sure we train ya properly."

The Visored skipped the proper introduction and got straight to business. While she was enjoying being here, she was sent here for a reason; the one in front of her was that reason. Rather he liked it or not, he was going to go with her and learn how to get control of his Hollow. If Yoruichi's former pupil was expressing concern, then it had to be serious.

"I can't" without much hesitation.

If he just went AWOL, then there was no telling what would happen as a result. Soifon was finally talking to him and he didn't want to risk her getting mad at him again. His taichou didn't exactly seem like the kind of person that would tolerate a subordinate going AWOL; she seemed more like the kind of person that would beat the daylights out of that subordinate. Plus, he was supposed to be here on an assignment.

"Either you can come with me by choice" Hiyori said in a slightly angry tone "or I'll force you to Karakura Town."

"I can't go to Karakura Town" while he looked at the ground "I was sent here because I know this place better than Soifon-taichou, Rangiku-chan, Yachiru-chan, and Grimmjow-san. I don't remember much from when I lived here, but…"

Both Hiyori and Eiyu looked in the same direction when they felt a reiatsu nearby. They both knew it wasn't the red haired vampire; this reiatsu was too weak. Eiyu could feel that it was from a living person that was trying to hide from them. Hiyori knew exactly where the person was hiding at; they were about a hundred feet away, observing them.

"We know yer there" Hiyori said with a scowl.

A man stepped out from his hiding spot and looked at them. He was dressed in a black and white striped shirt, black leather pants, slightly messy black hair, and had a knife in his hand. The knife looked like it had dried blood on it; that caused Eiyu's blood to begin to heat up.

"I guess I should've listened to Boss when he told me to be careful about concealing my Youki" the man chuckled "he was always better at that."

"It was you" Eiyu said with anger in his voice.

Both Hiyori and the man looked at him with a confused look on their face.

"You're the one that tried to kill Mizore-chan."

"Oh… that" as he shrugged his shoulders "she was sticking her nose into places it didn't belong…"

Eiyu snapped and used sonido to get close to the person and slammed his fist into his gut. He wasn't going to let the person that hurt one of his friends get away with it; he was going to pound that person into the ground and drag him to the Safety Committee. His primitive instincts were telling him to kill the person, but he was better than that; better than Ghoul. He wasn't going to kill this person. A part of him wanted to do to him what he did to Mizore and leave him to try to survive, but that wasn't like him.

The man slammed into a tree from the force and could feel his insides turning. He was not expecting that kid to move that fast, or be that strong; when he first felt the hit, he thought his insides would explode from the force. It was unreal how strong this kid was.

Hiyori looked at the rising Visored with wide eyes; he had just used sonido… an _Arrancar_ ability. None of the Visoreds could use Arrancar abilities; the only Hollow power they could use was Cero, and that was only Shinji, herself, and Mashiro. If what she saw was correct, then his Hollow was on a completely different level than any Visored's; even Ichigo's.

"I guess I won't hold back then" he said as he changed into his true form.

The Visored watched as the man grew six more arms and a large abdomen growing out of his back. She had never seen a Yokai in person before; let alone watch one change into its true form. To be honest with herself, it was kinda sickening to watch this guy turn into a spider.

"YOU TAKE TOO LONG!" they heard a familiar voice shout just before a large Morningstar was brought down on the Tsuchigumo's head.

Eiyu and Hiyori looked at the newcomer with a surprised look. Neither were really expecting anyone to find them; Hiyori was concealing her reiatsu and Eiyu had his being concealed by his gigai.

"What are you doing here Bean?" Hiyori asked Kokoa as she lifted the Morningstar off the spider.

"Gym was borin' me. I'm glad I ditched it too; this could be fun" with a chuckle as Kyo turned back into his chibi form.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

The Female Shinigami Society looked at each other with a slightly confused look. This was the first time ever they would be having a meeting without their president there. The situation felt really weird to everyone in that room. No one knew what to do for the meeting, Matsumoto wasn't even there to provide some sort of entertainment; like the time she gave the lesson on 'How to Make Your Shinigami Uniform Sexy'. It was a rather dual moment.

"How will we have our meetings?" Nanao asked as she looked at the empty president seat.

"Maybe we could go to Yokai Academy where Kusajishi-fuku-taichou is at" Nemu suggested.

Everyone turned and looked at the artificially created shinigami with a look that showed they should've thought of it sooner. It should've been a no-brainer; the Winter War must've taken a serious toll on all of them.

"I think she just wants to see more of that Aono guy" Kiyone said with a snicker.

Nemu blushed at the comment. Yes she would like to see Tsukune some more and try to sleep with him if possible, but with her father being who he is, it would be hard. Even more so since Tsukune had fought against the painted taichou and was able to cancel out the affects of his Shikai. It didn't take long for word of the fight to spread through the Seireitei and even a few parts of the Rukongai. A boy was willing to stand against a taichou to do what was right and protect that taichou's subordinate from said taichou.

"Aono-san seems to be a nice guy" Isane said to her sister.

She remembered talking with him on their way to the cafeteria when he was in the Clinic. While he didn't have much to talk about, he actually listened to her and didn't pretend to like other guys would.

"He fought my father in broad daylight;" Nemu said as she remembered the day "turns out he is able to counteract my father's Shikai abilities as well as the poison that he can release from the guard."

"That rumor is true?" many members of the club said.

When everyone first heard that rumor, no one believed it. No one in their right mind would attack a taichou; not only was it considered treason, but the skill and power difference between a fuku-taichou and a taichou was vast. An unseated shinigami attacking a taichou was about like a basic Hollow attacking an Adjuchas level hollow; it was a very bad idea.

"Hai. He also released his Shikai to continue fighting, but Yamamoto-sama showed up and stopped the fight."

"I didn't realize he had Shikai;" Yoruichi said as she downed a shot of sake "I guess Bee really knows how to pick'em" with a chuckle "his reiatsu is about third seat already."

"How do all of you keep getting into my house?" they heard Byakuya ask in an annoyed tone.

Yoruichi couldn't help but to use Shunpo to get next to him and steal one of his hair clamps in the same manner she stole his hair tie a hundred years ago. It amused her to watch the kid lose his temper and try to act high and mighty. The head of the Kuchiki clan was proof that no matter how level headed one may seem, there was a temper hidden.

"You still can't keep me from stealing your hair ordainments can you; Little Byakuya?" Yoruichi teased before she vanished down the hall.

A tick mark became visible on the noble's forehead before he used Shunpo to chase after the Neko.


	13. Chapter 13

Comments:

Ghoul being on a different level than the Visoreds Hollows is true, because of the fact that Tsukune has Arrancar abilities. As for Hichigo rapestomping Ghoul, not in his current state. Remember, Hichigo used most of his reiatsu in the final attack against Aizen to ensure Ichigo kept his shinigami powers and is currently tired and weak. Plus with Hichigo being a Vasto Lorde level Hollow, it will take longer for him to recover enough before he is able to allow Ichigo to call his power.

I'm glad you liked the lemon; 'cause that was the first one I've ever written. And of course I wouldn't make it so that they have sex right after the 'Talk'. That would make it too easy. And I don't plan on making it easy for them to figure out who's behind the Hollow attacks on the Academy.

Back to the story,  
Demon.

Xxxxxxx

It took almost an hour to explain everything to Kuyo when they took the Tsuchigumo to the Safety Committee. First the trio had to explain why they were out of class; Eiyu said he was released early so he could take care of personal matters with Hiyori and Kokoa lied and said she was released early because the sensei got tired of her. Then Eiyu had to explain what happened and how he figured out the Tsuchigumo was the one that attacked Mizore. After that he had to convince the Kitsune that he was going to handle it on his own and for the Safety Committee not to worry about it; the Yuko decided that this would be a test for Eiyu to see if he could handle the pressure of being in the Safety Committee.

"That Baka;" Hiyori snorted "so full of himself. I wouldn't mind taken him down a couple notches."

Hiyori couldn't stand the Kitsune when she first met him when he tried to stop her and Bean from fighting. It was tempting for the Visored to start fighting him so he'd shut the fuck up and leave. But she was enjoying fighting the red head vampire too much at the time. She could see that her counterpart had spent much of her life trying to prove she was strong enough to stop being viewed as a child.

"Not even Onee-sama could beat him on her own" Kokoa said with a slightly angry tone "the teme took hit after hit and laughed like it tickled. Even with him only being seventeen, he has four tails; which is hard to achieve even for Yuko that are twice his age. And he's the only Yuko I've heard of that has a Hybrid form. It took all of Onee-sama's friends to bring him down;" as her fist tightened "and even then, it was barely enough. I still can't believe she fought alongside that Werewolf."

Eiyu stopped walking as his mind started flashing several images at once. The first one was of Kuyo while he was in his Hybrid form; the fox like ears that were visible even underneath his hair, the four tails that had fire surrounding them, and the fox legs that had the same fire around them. The image played, and he saw a werewolf holding the Kitsune in place while the silver haired vampire landed a powerful ax kick to the Kitsune. He noticed something about the werewolf; it was wearing the same red headband and silver choker collar as the person he saw in the memory that was triggered when he meet Nekonome-sensei. The two were probably the same person. The next image was of his being wrestled by the Werewolf when he was in human form. The way it looked, they were pretty good friends but still had issues that weren't easy to fix. The final image was of the Werewolf and the silver haired vampire fighting against each other. It was clear that it wasn't a friendly sparring match too.

"What is it now?" Hiyori spat.

"It's nothing" as he caught back up with the look alike girls "let's find this person and stop him from attacking anyone else."

He closed his eyes and built up his reiatsu a little before letting it explode out of him. Doing this forced his Pesquisa to max out in range and allowed him to pick up even the faintest reiatsu level. He could know where everyone was in a matter of seconds; including the boss of the Tsuchigumo.

Hiyori felt the sudden blast of reiatsu and nearly had the wind knocked out of her. She didn't think that this guy could do something like that.

"What the fuck was that?" Kokoa said as she looked around trying to find the source.

"Sorry" Eiyu said "that was me. I know where we need to go now" as he turned right and kept walking.

The person he was looking for was a pretty good distance away and he had a little difficulty sensing it even with his Pesquisa maxed out. He wasn't sure why he had trouble sensing it, but it could be that the person was good at hiding their reiatsu.

"How did _you_ do that?" the vampire asked.

"I built up my reiatsu and released it" he explained "Grimmjow-sama explained it as a sonar type thing. I think it's a variant of what vampires can do unconsciously. I'm hoping to be able to be as good as a vampire at it" with a smile.

"Reiatsu…?" in a confused tone

Hiyori looked at the chocolate haired boy and couldn't believe he just used shinigami terms to a living person. Clearly he didn't know who to use the vocabulary of the area to keep from blowing his cover.

"What you call Youki here."

-Moka-

The S-ranked vampire walked to her next class as she wondered where her sister disappeared to. Sure it wasn't too weird to see that her short tempered sister had completely left the gym without a word to the sensei, but not saying anything to her; that was the unusual part. Normally the orange haired girl always told her what she was doing; so it worried her that Kokoa just vanished. Then there was the fact that Eiyu took off with that mysterious vampire that just showed up yesterday. From what her sister said, it was the vampire that he was here to get away from. If that were so, then why would he take off with her; things weren't making sense.

"I hate gym" she heard a familiar voice say.

"Same here, it's way too much work;" another said "I just wanna ditch class and go drink some."

"Are you sure you're a succubus?" Kurumu asked.

Moka looked over at her succubus friend and was a little surprised to see someone with an even bigger bust than Kurumu. What made it weirder was the fact that the new succubus had her shirt unbuttoned towards the top. She remembered seeing her with Eiyu the first day he was here and a few times after that, but she never really paid attention to her; her focus was the alleged Fraccion.

"Why would you assume I'm not?" the blonde succubus asked "my boobs are real; thank you very much."

"Yes, they are;" Gin said with a smile as he appeared next to her and grabbed hold "and thank _you_ very much."

"You're so frisky; Ginnei" she giggled as the werewolf fondled her boobs.

Kurumu reacted in her usual way when the Werewolf acted like a pervert; punching him in the face. The werewolf continued to dodge the next barrage of punches directed at him while the new succubus tried to calm the blue haired one down.

"You're Eiyu's friend, right?" Moka asked the blonde succubus.

"Hai. He's such a cutie, isn't he?" with a smile before looking at Gin "but he's not as hot as you" with a wink.

Gin suddenly got a nose bleed as he fell to the ground from vivid thoughts.

"Do you have any idea where he could've gone?"

Rangiku looked at the silver haired vampire with a worried look.

"He disappeared with the vampire he was here to avoid before gym started; not long afterwards, my sister vanished as well."

"I don't know where he could've taken off to;" Rangiku said "what did she look like, the vampire Eiyu's here to get away from?"

"Like Kokoa-chan; only with shorter blonde hair. She was wearing a red track suit and had a sword tied to her back."

Rangiku's eyes widened when she heard this; she knew the description of the person that helped her taichou fight against the Teresa Espada and the person that Moka had just described matched. A Visored was here and looking for Eiyu; that was worrying for her.

'_Why would a Visored be here for him?'_ she asked herself _'and does this mean he has a Hollow too?'_

"I'm sure that your sister will be fine" Rangiku said with a smile "Eiyu is stronger than he looks. He'll protect her."

"That's part of what I'm worried about" as she walked off "Kokoa-chan hates being protected by others because it makes her feel weak."

-Eiyu, Hiyori, and Kokoa-

The trio starred at the massive ruins that looked like remnants of an old castle. Kokoa looked back and forth between the castle and Eiyu with a look that showed she was kinda hoping he was kidding about this being where the person was. While she might have been up for going looking for a fight, she was hoping it wouldn't be a place that looked so creepy. The ruined roof that had collapsed on its-self had blown many of the bricks and rocks that made up the supports out and into the open while damaging even more along the way.

"Please tell me this is a joke" the red head said.

"Nope" Hiyori answered "I can feel reiatsu signatures in there, and when someone hides in a place like this; they can't be up to any good."

While the signatures were weak, she could still feel them and tell whomever was in there was trying to mask their presence as much as possible to avoid detection. With what she could tell just from the reiatsu, this shouldn't take long to deal with. This meant she'd be able to beat the crap out of the rising Visored and force him back to Karakura Town for training.

"Maybe we should get Onee-sama for help" as she felt a weird presence and backed up a little.

The presence she was feeling wasn't one she liked; it felt eerie and stalker-ish. It wasn't like the masked creatures she has been killing lately, because she could see them all the time, but this presence, it was something that was alive and unusually strong.

"Fine" Hiyori said while she and Eiyu walked towards the entrance "we'll be done with these guys before ya get back. Or would you prefer to show yer 'Onee-sama' that you can handle yerself with somethin' like this?"

Kokoa stopped mid-step at those words. Her Onee-sama had fought against countless opponents that had every intention of killing them last year, yet she never hesitated to look those enemies in the eyes and say 'bring it'. By doing this she'd finally be able to prove she was strong to her Onee-sama and get the respect she longed for; even though it meant jumping head first into a situation that could get them all killed, it would be worth it in the end.

"Wait up" she said before running to catch up with the Fraccion and 'vampire'.

When they stepped through the rotting wood door, they saw rubble and old glass all over the place. An old stone table was split in half from a roof rafter landing on it, and the doors that were visible were completely rusted over and falling off the hinges.

"Which way is the dungeon?" Hiyori asked as she looked at the various doors for signs of recent use.

"Why the dungeon?" Eiyu asked.

"Baka" Kokoa spat "don't you watch scary movies? When a hideout is a ruined castle, you look for the dungeon first because it's the deepest part of the castle and that means no one will hear a victim screaming. Besides, from what we know about this 'boss' he's one that tries to look cool. This definitely earns him points for that."

Eiyu looked around and started to understand what the red head was talking about. Because the castle was in ruins, no one would dare come here unless they were looking for trouble. And with what she said about the dungeons, it would make since to hide in that part of the castle; it probably was untouched by the damage they were seeing where they were. Plus with how much damage there was they could use the rubble to hide the entrance that leads to the dungeon.

"Hey," Hiyori shouted "found it! Damn thing's blocked by a boulder though."

The look-alike vampires looked at the boulder with slight annoyance; Eiyu only sighed with disappointment. The boulder easily looked large enough to give even Zaraki-taichou trouble; they must have a Yokai that was ridiculously strong on their team to be able to use this to block the entrance.

"You sure this is the way?" Kokoa asked as she looked at her blonde counterpart.

"Look Bean" as she pointed to the ground next to the boulder "it's scrapped up because this thing's been moved a lot. And didn't ya see all the dust everywhere; this boulder is the only thing not covered in it."

Kokoa looked at the ground and saw exactly what Hiyori was talking about. Her new friend knew a lot about things she would've expected her to. She was starting to hope that the blonde vampire would stay so she'd have a friend that wasn't affiliated with her Onee-sama's in any way.

"Ok; now how do we move it?" looking at the boulder again.

"I have an idea" Eiyu said as he held his arm out "but you two need to move."

The two girls moved away from the boulder. Hiyori already had a pretty good idea about what he was going to do; use Kido to blow the boulder to hell.

"Hado Number 31:" as a marble sized red orb grew in his hand "Shakkaho!"

The marble sized orb flew from his hand and towards the boulder. Kokoa fought a laugh that was slowly building in her core as she watched the thing lazily get closer to the oversized rock. When it hit, it sounded like a firecracker went off and caused a good bit of smoke to come from the boulder. As the smoke cleared, they saw only scorch marks where the orb had hit; that did it for Kokoa, she busted into a roaring laughing fit.

"WHAT *haha* WHAT THE HELL *haha* WAS THAT?" as she rolled on the dusty floor holding her gut "was *haha* that supposed *haha* to destroy the *haha* boulder?"

"I guess I still need to use the incantation…" he said sheepishly as he looked at his hand.

All the training he had done with Rangiku wasn't enough to be able to use the Kido spell without the incantation; not that he expected to be able to. Now he knew how close he was to being able to use the spell without it and once they were done here, he could keep training to try to be able to use the spell at full power without using the incantation. He could spend the night training with Soifon to finally get it right; plus he wanted to spend time with her.

"BEAN LOOK OUT!" Hiyori shouted as she felt a new reiatsu right behind them.

Kokoa barely registered the warning before she saw a massive club coming down to crush her skull. The tiny vampire just barely rolled out of the way in time before the club made contact with the ground and left an imprint of where it hit in the ground. She quickly ordered her Bake-Bake Bat to turn into a Morningstar and engaged the attacker in close combat. Her vampiric eyes could make out the outline of the attacker; it was a Minotaur, and a big one. This explained why there was such a large boulder blocking the way to the dungeon.

"Keep workin' on that boulder" Hiyori said to Eiyu "Bean and I will take this guy."

Eiyu nodded before he turned his attention back to the large rock. Right now he probably couldn't fight a Minotaur without shedding his gigai; and that would blow his cover. It was best to let the Visored and vampire handle it at the moment.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation," as he held his hand out towards the boulder "flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium," the red orb formed in his hand "the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"

The large red orb flew from his hand and towards the boulder, when it hit it exploded and sent small rock fragments flying everywhere. Eiyu barely had time to shield himself from the small pieces before they assaulted his body. Hiyori and Kokoa looked back at the boulder and saw a large chunk of if missing, roughly a third, and quickly turned their attention back to the Minotaur they were fighting. The red head blocked the large beast's club with her Morningstar and forced an opening on it for Hiyori to take. As soon as Hiyori sliced through the creature's side, she blocked the club with her zanpakuto and forced it back enough so she could cut into the wielder's arm.

Kokoa let out a battle cry as she swung the Morningstar at the Minotaur's head and sent it flying across the ruined castle. A large smile found its way to her face as she felt proud of launching such a large opponent so far. The hit made the large Ox-humanoid go even farther than she was hoping to send it; all the way to the other side of the room and caused the rock wall to crack around it.

"Don't wait for it to get back up" Hiyori said with an angry tone as she rushed towards the large opponent "keep attackin'!"

Kokoa followed suit and charged the Minotaur before it could get up. The last thing she wanted to do was let the thing get up and build momentum up for a tackle; she might be a vampire, but she doubted that she'd be able to survive something like that. She ordered Kyo to change into a sword as she brought it down on the Minotaur in an attempt to sever a limb, but the beast retaliated by swinging its arm and knocking the two girls away from it like they were only gnats.

Hiyori recovered quickly from the hit thanks to her countless years as a shinigami that built her reflexes and stamina. She saw that her counterpart wasn't so lucky and took longer to get back up from the hit. Their opponent was pretty strong, she'd give it that, but she wouldn't let something like this beat her; not when she was enjoying herself finally. Ever since they had beaten Aizen, the Hollows started to come in fewer and fewer numbers in Karakura Town. That often annoyed her beyond reasoning, and ended with her trying to shut Shinji's record player off because she couldn't stand the music any longer.

She rushed the Minotaur to allow Kokoa time to recover from the hit she had just taken. While she was far stronger than she was letting on, she couldn't use her Hollowfication or Shikai, or any of her shinigami powers for that fact, to just end the fight right then. She was posing as a vampire and couldn't reveal her powers without screwing things up; not that she really cared because she was only there for a short time anyways. With a powerful swing of her zanpakuto, she sliced through the club and smirked as the piece she had just removed from the club fell to the ground beside her.

Another explosion went off and she quickly slide underneath the Minotaur to keep from getting hit by debris. The beast roared in pain as several pieces of hot rock impaled its chest and arms. She saw Kokoa taking advantage of the opening with her Bake-Bake Bat as a sword still and charging towards the Minotaur to deliver a killing blow. Hiyori pushed off the ground and forced herself towards the large opponent with her zanpakuto ready to impale it through the back. As soon as her blade pierced the hide of the Minotaur, so did Kokoa's.

The beast let loose an agonizing roar of pain as it fell to its knees and made final attempts to kill its opponents before it died. However, Kokoa not only stabbed through the Minotaur's chest, but she pinned an arm as well. With only one arm that was extremely injured to use, it couldn't lift its club anymore and was stuck trying to swat the red head away. Kokoa dodged the attempts to swat her easily as she twisted her blade in the Minotaur's chest, causing it even more pain. The duet withdrew their blades and made one last slash at the beast as they let out a battle cry.

Kokoa and Hiyori looked at each other, panting slightly, and started to smile. While it wasn't the biggest opponent either of them had taken down, they enjoyed fighting the Minotaur. It might not have been the strongest opponent Hiyori had ever faced, she could see that it was for her counterpart and decided to let her savor the moment instead of saying that the beast was weak.

"I guess fightin' those masked things really did pay off" Kokoa said as she started laughing.

For the longest time, she had never seen any noticeable results from fighting against the masked creatures that attacked the school. But after taking down a Minotaur that large, she was going to keep doing it. She doubted that she would've been able to fight against it before she started her unique training. And now, she took a B-ranked Minotaur on and only got a bruise on her side from the only attack that she didn't manage to dodge. This gave her bragging rights, and she was going to boast about it to her Onee-sama.

"I've never fought with someone like that" Hiyori said with a snicker "that was more fun than I thought it'd be."

That was the truth. When she fought alongside Toshiro it wasn't exactly easy since the half pint viewed her as an enemy as well and only worked with her since they had a mutual enemy at the time. It was because they kept bickering with each other that they couldn't work together to fight an Espada and it nearly cost them.

"Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!" they heard just before another explosion went off.

"GIVE A LITTLE WARNING NEXT TIME; BAKA!" they both shouted at him as they managed to hit the ground fast enough to keep from getting impaled by rocks.

"Sorry…" Eiyu said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head "but there isn't going to be a next time. That was the last of it."

They looked back at the boy and saw that he had destroyed the last of the boulder and the entrance was clear for them to push further into the castle. The duet got up and walked over to the entrance, punching Eiyu on either side on their way to the door.

-Yachiru-

The pinkette fuku-taichou was pouting because Chocolate-Hair had just left without taking her with and now had to walk to her classes. She was expecting him to be back before gym got out, but he didn't show up. He was probably off having fun fighting large Hollows without her there to watch and cheer him on. It wasn't fair that he got to leave and she didn't get to go with him! And here she thought that they were getting along so well, but he ditches her and goes who-knows-where with Snaggletooth.

"He's a meanie" she pouted as she jumped up on her chair and pulled out a piece of candy to eat.

-Eiyu, Hiyori, and Kokoa-

The trio cautiously walked down the stone stairs and to the dungeon. The one thing that Kokoa was sure of was that passage ways like this always had a trap of some sort just waiting for someone to trip it. The bruise on her side was starting to hurt like hell and making it hard to walk properly without feeling a sharp pain in her ribs. All she could do was grit her teeth and bare the pain until they got out of the ruins they were in and she could get to the infirmary.

"Almost there" Hiyori said as she saw a light that showed the bottom of the stairwell.

"Something smells like cigarettes" Kokoa said with disgust as she covered her nose.

The three walked out of the stairwell and into the hall to see several prison cells lining the walls. No one was in them; they were just for decoration for now. Hiyori had to give this person props; if it weren't for the fact that she's been to Hueco Mundo she'd say this place gave her the creeps. The burning torches that sat in their holders on the wall dripped the oil from the soaked cloth as it burned and left small pieces of glass in the sand covered floor. Now she could also sense the person they were looking for better. Bean was right by guessing that the person would be hiding in the dungeon; she must watch a lot of scary movies.

Eiyu looked around and saw bones in a few cells that were still chained to the wall. That didn't worry him too much; it was the chance that those souls are still lingering in the castle. While he was still at the Shinigami Academy, he learned that Pluses that didn't move on occasionally bound themselves to a certain place and attacked intruders. As time goes on, that soul slowly turns into a Demi-Hollow which can be even stronger than normal Hollows because of the time they've had to absorb spirit particles from the air and consume reiatsu from living people.

"That you Kumocchi?" they heard a voice ask from down the hall "don't tell me you went out so you could slice up another chick."

The trio ducked into an opened cell and Eiyu kept so he could see the person. He saw the person exhale a long stream of smoke as he got closer. Black shoulder length hair, white shirt with black pinstripes down it that was untucked from his black slacks, and a matching black suit vest. Eiyu didn't recognize him from anywhere in the Academy.

"Hey, Kumocchi; you there?"

Eiyu stepped out of the cell and into view of the person; much to the annoyance of Hiyori and Kokoa. Had he waited for the person to pass, they could've ambushed him and knocked him out without much trouble. Now the guy knew they were there and wouldn't be as easy to knock out.

"Who are you?" the guy asked lazily as he took a puff of his cigarette.

"A friend of Mizore's" he answered as he flared his reiatsu a little.

"Sorry, I don't remember every victim we kill;" while he exhaled "this is just a side gig until we get the heat off us. We were offered a chance to gain a lot of power if we provided intel about this place to that chick; since I'm a Doppelganger," with a smile "I need power" as he threw the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

Kokoa's eyes widened; if this guy was a Doppelganger, then that would explain why he was able to move around the campus so freely without getting spotted. But that also meant that this wasn't going to be easy; if the stories were true, then at least one of them were going to die down here. Dopplegangers take the form of another person, and then kill the person so they can take their place in their daily lives.

Hiyori listened to what the person was saying. Whoever employed this guy was smart; a Doppelganger could easily walk amongst everyone and no one would even realize it. This would allow the best intel possible on the Academy without risking getting exposed because of a personal flaw. The only question was; who was pulling the strings?

Before Eiyu could say anything back, the Doppelganger was already mid-swing through a punch aimed at his face. The speed of this person was unreal; he was barely able to catch the motion before he moved to dodge. He wasn't expecting the Doppelganger to be that fast at all; to be honest, he didn't know what to expect with this Yokai. The encyclopedia he borrowed had very little information on the species; the only confirmed ability that a Doppelganger has is the ability to turn into anyone they touch.

'_He's fast'_ Eiyu thought as he put a little distance between himself and his opponent.

"Allow me to introduce myself" the Doppelganger said "I'm…"

Eiyu disappeared with a static like boom and threw a punch at his head. The Doppelganger easily blocked the attack just before grabbing his wrist and throwing him into a cell door. Eiyu couldn't believe the speed that his opponent countered his attack; it was like he was watching Grimmjow disappear while he was sparring with his Arrancar mentor. Not only could he barely keep up with the speed, but the ease that the Doppelganger countered; it was like he was fighting against Soifon.

"So much for formalities" the Doppelganger sighed as he put one hand to Eiyu's face and his free hand to his.

"NO!" Kokoa shouted while she grabbed Kyo and had him turn into a Morningstar while she tried to stop what was happening.

The Doppelganger was going to copy Kenpachi and his abilities. If that happened, then no one would be able to stop the serial killer from causing even more bodies to pile up. She's seen the way people let their guard down around the Fraccion; it would be difficult to see a betrayal coming. Add that with his strength, if the Doppelganger took over Kenpachi's life, then he'd easily be able to kill anyone; even her Onee-sama. She wouldn't be worried if her Onee-sama didn't let her guard down around the Fraccion so easily and often, but because she has some weird obsession with the Servant to Demons she had to stop the Doppelganger before he copied the Fraccion.

There was a sudden surge of Youki, and Kokoa got blown backwards. The amount that the small vampire felt was the same amount that her Onee-sama has; she never would've thought that the Fraccion was holding back that much on a regular basis. This new fact was going to force her to reevaluate how she viewed the Servant. She has already seen that he is far stronger than he is letting on; the only question was, how much stronger?

"Bean" Hiyori said as she caught her counterpart and slid back a little.

"Huh," they heard Eiyu's voice say "I wouldn't have guessed that you're always in your true form."

The two girls looked at the second Eiyu with wide eyes and slight shock as the new Eiyu rolled his wrists like he was getting accustomed to the new form. Hiyori had never believed the stories of Doppelgangers, but seeing one at that very moment was making her start to believe. Kokoa was stunned with silence as she looked at the second Eiyu; now the Doppelganger had all of the Fraccion's abilities. Hiyori quickly drew her zanpakuto and charged at the Doppelganger. She had every intention of finishing the fight before it started.

As her blade made contact with the Doppelganger, it stopped. The double walker had caught the zanpakuto blade with his bare hand. In that moment, she remembered what Grimmjow had said to Kenpachi before they left; 'It's good to see you have Hierro now'. She remembered how strong the Teresa's was and how hard it was to cut through it, even with help from the shrimp sized taichou. Had it not been for Aizen cutting her down, they might've been killed by the blonde Arrancar. The next thing she knew, she was flying backwards with spit coming from her mouth and an extremely powerful pain in her gut.

The Doppelganger looked at his hand and saw blood ooze out of the cut that he had just received. He half expected the blade to cut the hand completely off, but with the power he felt surge through him when he copied his rude opponent he felt it was worth the risk. The next thing he felt was a fist connecting with his jaw; his original opponent had caught him off guard and got a lucky shot in. The power that was in the hit wasn't enough to break his jaw now that he had copied his opponent's form, but had he been in his original form his jaw would've been shattered. The Doppelganger quickly swatted the fist away from his face and punched Eiyu in the side with the same amount of power he hit Hiyori with.

Eiyu felt a rib crack when the fist connected with his side; luckily he was used to having his ribs crack when he sparred against Grimmjow, so this was nothing. The only problem it presented was that it would hinder his movements throughout the rest of the fight. He threw another punch only to have his opponent wrap his arm around his, lock it, and slam him into a nearby wall.

'_I can't even hit him'_ he thought before he was thrown to the adjacent wall.

When he hit the wall, he felt his shoulder pop back into place. He didn't realize that it was ever dislocated to begin with. He saw Kokoa morph her Bake-Bake Bat into a sword as she went to attack the master of hand-to-hand combat.

'_**He ain't a fuckin' master of hand-ta-hand combat'**_ he heard Ghoul say _**'Soifon could wipe the floor with this loser. Yer just weak.'**_

He watched as the red-head got thrown down the hall as the Doppelganger used her momentum against her. The small vampire showed she was trying to ignore the pain in her side as she got up and charged at him again. This fight was going nowhere fast and would only end with someone's death at the rate it was going. Kokoa let out a hiss of pain as the double walker elbowed her in her ribs where she was hit by the Minotaur earlier before she was thrown onto Hiyori, who was in the middle of a swing at the Doppelganger.

"I have no choice" as he stood up and reached into his back pocket.

He tapped the Soul Badge against his chest and there was a pop as his spirit body was forced out of the gigai. The feeling made him think he was peeling off a layer of skin from his entire body. That was a feeling he was going to prefer over what was most likely going to happen when he reported back to Soifon, and then submitted his report to Yamamoto-sou-taichou. He had just disobeyed a direct order from the sou-taichou and he knew that wasn't going to play over too well.

Kokoa looked to the source of the pop she had just heard; immediately her body filled with anger. The black kimono, the redwood scabbard and hilt, the way his blood smelled; it was just as she had thought, 'Kenpachi Eiyu' was the guy she had seen on the first day and the one that nearly killed her Onee-sama.

"YOU!" Kokoa shouted with extreme anger and venom.

Tsukune ignored her as he drew his zanpakuto and vanished with sonido. For some reason, he felt faster than when he was in his gigai; he also felt stronger. He could see that the Doppelganger couldn't keep up with his speed so the opponent decided to block, and just in time. Tsukune forced the Doppelganger backwards as he followed through with the attack. It wasn't enough to cut through his own Hierro; that much he could tell from the lack of blood on his zanpakuto. If there would've been blood on it, he would've felt a slight stinging as Bloodriver used the blood to heal his wounds.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your sister" Tsukune said as he looked back to Kokoa "but right now, I need to beat him so we can get out of this alive" just before turning back to face his opponent again.

Hiyori was surprised that it was Bean's 'Onee-sama' that his Hollow had nearly killed. From what her new friend had said about her, the silver haired vampire was the last one she would've suspected as the one that was nearly killed because of his Hollow.

"It seems you can't cut through your own skin" the Doppelganger said as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

Tsukune centered his zanpakuto and grabbed it with his second hand.

'_If you wish to use our combined strength'_ he heard Bloodriver tell him _'do not release Shikai.'_

'_I have to…'_

'_No, you do not;'_ cutting him off _'recall the fact that it is the bond between a shinigami and their zanpakuto that forges the ability to grow stronger in zanjutsu. Because you have not learned how to enter your mindscape without me pulling you there, we have not been able to forge this bond. When I was alive I trusted my allies with my life and did not hesitate to assist with a plan that was made at the last second. Do you trust me?'_

Tsukune closed his eyes. Bloodriver has never given him a reason not to trust her; she was the one that was helping keep Ghoul suppressed. It was because of his vampire zanpakuto spirit that he was able to stand against Kurotsuchi-taichou and protect Nemu. It was Bloodriver that beat Ghoul back into submission after Murasama pulled her out of him. He would trust her with his life.

'_Hai. I won't release Shikai'_ as he opened his eyes and locked gazes with the Doppelganger.

"You still want to fight even though you can't cut me?" as he met Tsukune's gaze he saw he was serious "fine."

The Doppelganger built up his copied reiatsu and made it visible. Tsukune could see it wasn't the same color as his; while his own was red, the double walker's was more of a faint tint of red on grey. It wasn't as strong as his either; he could feel that it wasn't even a seated shinigami's level. Soifon had told him that his reiatsu was about at a fifth seat's level; he just lacked the skill to be able to become one.

Kokoa could feel the Youki coming from the Doppelganger and it didn't have any effect on her at all. It was barely stronger than her own and she knew why that was; the power was only borrowed. Deep down she wanted the Doppelganger to keep beating the shit out of the one he copied, but she knew that would mean they wouldn't make it out alive. She knew that the person that called himself 'Kenpachi Eiyu' was strong enough to kill the Doppelganger, and once he did she was going to expose him for who he truly is and make his life a living hell.

'_When I was alive;'_ she said _'my title was Nosferatu.'_

Tsukune built up his reiatsu and made it visible too. He could feel his reiatsu flowing into his zanpakuto, and Bloodriver's flowing from the blade into him; this was a new thing for him. It was never mentioned what it felt like when the bond between a shinigami and their zanpakuto was being used to its true potential.

Kokoa could feel the pressure in the air build to the point where it was hard for her to remain standing, but she refused to let it show that she couldn't remain standing under such power. She forced her legs to keep from buckling under the pressure and stuck the point of her sword into the ground to use as a brace. The Bake-Bake Bat started to shake in her hands from the amount of controlled Youki there was in the air; Kokoa had a feeling that if this kept up, she would lose her brace.

Hiyori stood just fine even with the reiatsu she was feeling. Since she was probably the one Yamamoto had to flare his reiatsu the most at while she was a fuku-taichou, she was used to standing under far more powerful reiatsu than the rising Visored's. However, she could see that her look alike wasn't doing so well and didn't want to look weak from the pressure that was in the air. She remembered the first time she tried to remain standing under Yamamoto's reiatsu; it took her a week to get out of the Clinic.

"Don't fight it;" she warned the red head "you'll only hurt yerself."

Kokoa let the pressure force her to the ground just before even more was added to the air as 'Kenpachi' started running towards the Doppelganger. When she looked up she saw something form in the red Youki she was seeing around the combatant. It looked about like the head of the creature from the Aliens movie, and the AVP movie. She could even hear a screech that sounded just like the Aliens before she blacked out from the pressure.

Tsukune let out a battle cry as he swung the blade that held Bloodriver at his opponent's chest. He could feel the strength his zanpakuto mentioned that comes from the bond between the two of them. It was about like a fire that coursed through him without causing him any pain, but instead made him more focused on the battle while sharpening his zanpakuto. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Hiyori watched with wide eyes as the soon-to-be Visored's reiatsu showed something's head in it. She had never seen anything like it; it was almost like the Hollow side of him was reaching through and adding reiatsu to him. The force that he hit the Doppelganger with could be seen as the reiatsu left behind a small trail where the zanpakuto sliced into the opponent's skin.

-?-

Several figures watched the Shikigami project the fight on the cave wall. No one liked what they saw; a shinigami. This explained why none of the scouts they sent out ever made it back. A woman crossed her arms under her chest as she observed the fight; she had never seen the shinigami before and yet, with the amount of reiatsu she saw him give off he should be a seated officer. He was a mystery.

"Most unusual" a man said to her "I hope he doesn't interfere with our plans. Of course, Aono Tsukune always did have a way of interfering in our plans rather he realized it or not. If his Ghoul were to consume him, then he would be a very valuable asset to us."

The woman remained silent as she looked at the last image the Shikigami projected. It was of the form within the reiatsu that this Aono gave off. The way the form showed no visible eyes or tongue, but had a small mouth within its actual mouth. She kind of liked the way it looked.

-Moka-

The S-ranked vampire finally had enough of not knowing where her sister disappeared to and cut class to go look for her. The short tempered red head could take care of herself, but with the killings that have been going on, it was concerning for her to think of her sister being out there somewhere and possibly on her own. Even when she would go out looking for the masked creatures to fight them, she knew where she was and often followed her to make sure she would be safe.

A few minutes ago she felt a massive spike in Youki that almost wasn't natural. She didn't know of any Yokai species that could give off that much Youki while condensing it. Although, it did feel familiar to her; she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew it from somewhere. The only person she knew that has levels of Youki even close to what she felt was Eiyu.

"It couldn't be him" Moka said as she continued to run towards the source of the Youki.

-Ruby-

The older witch dropped the crystal ball she was looking into onto the floor and it shattered into countless pieces. She remembered when Yukari told her that she had looked into one to try to find her friends when they went to the Witch's Knoll. The young witch lost a crystal ball that day since a massive crack gouged itself into the ball and made the item useless.

She was originally trying to look and see if she could locate the one responsible for the murders on campus. In the past two weeks twelve had been killed; all with the same M.O.. A bladed weapon was suspect at first, but after the third victim appeared, they narrowed it down to a knife with a single edge; most likely a type of K.A. bar like the American Marines use.

However, she didn't see what she wanted to see. What she saw scarred her; it didn't make any sense either. It was a creature that looked like a creature from space that was in an American movie that Kokoa had showed her. The creature was slaughtering countless Hollows and then devouring their flesh. As the sight continued, it showed the creature changing into a humanoid being that had a fragment of its original head attached to the new human head. The person turned as he drew a black katana and pointed to someone she couldn't see, but she saw the face of the one wielding the katana; it was Tsukune.

She covered her mouth in horror as she tried to keep her body from shaking because of the image she just saw. While the future was never set, it worried her that her most precious person could become something so monstrous. Tsukune was too good of a person to do something so horrible; besides, he wasn't one of those creatures. She knew he was a shinigami, one that cleansed Hollows and ended their eternal suffering while protecting souls of those that hadn't moved on.

A part of her knew she would have to warn the Chairman about the vision she just saw. Regardless of how she might feel about what she saw, this was the Hades Lord's dimension and he needed to know everything that went on; if he didn't already know. The other part of her wanted to completely deny she ever saw such a horrible sight. Tsukune would never become one of those creatures and start devouring them like a starved animal.

"**Toujo-san"** she heard the Chairman call to her from his office.

Ruby sheepishly looked into the office from behind the door. The Chairman was a man that tended to know things before anyone else; so it wouldn't be too big of a surprise if he already knew about the vision she just had. She remembered when she first met the exorcist, the man already knew how her parents were killed and on what day, he knew how long she had spent at the Witch's Knoll, and he already knew the level of spells she could cast; he was a scary man.

"H-Hai" she said shyly.

"**I heard a crash…"** as he looked at her while still reading an ancient scroll.

It wasn't easy to miss the sound of something crashing onto the floor and shattering into Kami knows how many pieces. He remembered days when he was first learning the skills of the trade he is now involved in. Fuhai had such a temper back then, but then again, when you go through more crystal balls than an infant witch, such a temper was understandable. He still had scars from picking up all the pieces of crystal he dropped; so it was safe to say that he would never forget the sound of one crashing on the floor.

"Oh… that" she said nervously "I dropped my crystal ball."

"**Those don't break unless magic is being put into them; which implies that it was being used"** as he turned his attention back to the scroll **"I wonder what you could've seen that would make you so careless."**

He knew that Ruby wasn't one that scarred easily. After seeing her resolve when Hollows first started showing up in his dimension, he was starting to think it couldn't be shaken at all. Of course, the witch has done much to surprise even him; from being able to cover any position on campus he might need, to discovering the fertilizer formula her former Mistress used to control the Man-Eating Sunflower plants. The spell-mistress was ever full of surprises.

"Umm… well… you see…" trying to think of something to say that could possible detour him from learning about what she really saw.

"**I could just be over working you; ever since the Hollows started appearing you have been working even harder than last year in an attempt to keep my campus safe. I believe I should send you on a vacation"** as he adjusted the scroll so he could keep reading.

"You… You're going to fire me" with long anime tears flowing down her face.

"**Seireitei no, my dear girl;"** as he looked at the monitor he hooked up in his office **"I would sooner face off against my old friend Yamamoto than fire a dedicated employee such as yourself. And speaking of which, could you have Soifon-sensei, Jagerjaquez-sensei, Matsumoto-san, Kusajishi-san, and Tsukune-kun come to my office? Oh, and please have the little blonde girl in the red track suit come along as well. Lately I have been so caught up with trying to fix the barrier I haven't had a chance to converse with them."**

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia: Hosted by Mayuri Kurotsuchi

"Today I will be covering Doppelgangers," Mayuri said as he turned the screen behind him on "their true form is unknown due to the fact that they can copy the way any individual looks and walk around in that disguise for an unknown amount of time;" the screen showed the Doppelganger copying Tsukune's form "in my research I found that while they can copy the physical form of anyone, they cannot copy powers that require practice, skill, or a spiritual source. Such as Aono-teme's sonido, his actual reiatsu, and I believe it would be safe to assume that this is the same for Kido, Shunpo, and a shinigami's zanpakuto."

The screen showed the Doppelganger punching Tsukune, launching Kokoa down the hall, and knocking Hiyori to the ground with ease.

"They are said to be very weak naturally;" he explained "so to compensate for the lack of power, many often learn martial arts and other forms of hand-to-hand combat. This allows them to fight Yokai that would normally overpower them with a fighting style that requires skills rather than brute force" as he rewound the screen to show Tsukune getting punched in the face "I'll never get tired of that" as he did it again, and again.

"Mayuri-sama; do you realize that that is Aono-san punching the Doppelganger?" Nemu asked with a slight blush as she watched it.

"DAMNIT!" as he threw the remote on the ground.

Xxxxxxx

Author's note:

Alright; I'm sure many of you will point out that Murasama made no appearance in any of the previous chapters. This is true, but he is making an appearance in the one-shot I am working on. Like I said before, I will have to put this story on hiatus when I get to a point where I feel the one-shot will be needed in order for a few important things to make sense. I will give the heads up when the hiatus begins and will update this story when it ends after I finish the one-shot.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note:

I replaced Chapters 7, 9, and 13 because of an error I made with the name of the Kido spell used. Instead of using 'Hado Number 31: Shakkaho' or the English dub 'Way of Destruction Number 31: Red Flame Cannon' I mistakenly called it 'Way of Destruction Number 31: Red Cannon Fire'. CONTINUING THE STORY!  
Demon.

Xxxxxxx

Hiyori dragged the knocked out Doppelganger as Tsukune carried the unconscious vampire on his back. She could see the worried look on his face; which she could understand. If it was the vampire's sister that his Hollow nearly killed, then he had just revealed his identity; even if it was to protect said vampire, the damage had already been done. With what she knows about Bean, she was going to expose him to everyone; including her 'Onee-sama', who might be the first one she tells.

"Now ya might have to come with me" Hiyori said as they walked through the exit.

That was the only way to escape the persecution that was bound to follow him if he were to stay here. Sure he could just go back to the Seireitei, but he would still have issues with his Hollow. If that were to be left unchecked, he could become overpowered by it. Even if he were to beat his Hollow, there was always the chance that he would have to fight it again to make sure it stays in check. Just before Ichigo came to them for help with his Hollow she had to fight hers to make sure it wasn't getting any ideas.

"I can't" he said as he looked at the ground "I'm needed here. Besides" as he looked back at her "Bloodriver-chan is keeping Ghoul in check."

The Visored looked at the chocolate haired boy with surprise. He knew his zanpakuto's name, but didn't release Shikai; plus his zanpakuto was keeping 'Ghoul', as he called his Hollow, from possessing him.

"Huh?..." a sleepy Kokoa said as she started to regain consciousness "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" she shouted at Eiyu as she used one knee to jab him in the side "I AIN'T A WEAKLING THAT NEEDS TA BE CARRIED!"

The small vampire continued to struggle to get off his back, and pushed her knees into his busted ribs. He grunted in pain as he fell to the ground and let go of the red-head. As soon as he let go of Kokoa, she fell to the ground and saw Eiyu holding his ribs like he was in pain.

"What happened to you?" in a confused tone.

"Ya don't remember Bean?" Hiyori asked her look alike.

"Remember what?" as a tick mark appeared on her forehead because of the name she was just called.

Hiyori and Tsukune looked at each other as they tried to figure out what was going on. Before she passed out, they knew she was plotting to reveal his true identity to everyone; now, she was acting like she couldn't remember what happened. Unless… it wasn't an act. The Visored quickly began to think that because Eiyu's true identity was still fresh in her mind it hadn't moved to long term memory yet; which meant that it was still able to be altered or completely erased. The weird part though, was that she never heard of anyone's reiatsu being strong enough to blank someone's short term memory.

"You gave me the opening I needed to defeat the Doppelganger" Eiyu said with a smile towards her.

"A… a… a Doppelganger?" as she started to panic and paced around like an addict suffering withdraw.

The short vampire was trying to figure out how they were still alive after seeing a Doppelganger. Legend says that those that see a Doppelganger die, yet here they were conversing like nothing happened. She remembered killing the Minotaur with her blonde counterpart, and punching the Fraccion on the way down to the dungeon; then… nothing. Well, not nothing; she remembered a feeling of inevitable death that would burn anyone it touched.

"Kokoa!" they heard in the distance.

"Onee-sama!" the red-head cheered as she ran towards her.

Hiyori just sighed as she looked at Eiyu while he got back up. Though he was still holding his side and looked to be in pain still, it was clear that he wanted to avoid the silver haired girl. Considering the fact that his Hollow tried to kill her, the Visored understood his reason; she still thought he was acting like a coward though. He was running from his problem instead of facing it. It showed when he refused to go with her to Karakura Town, and it showed now that he was taking the Doppelganger from her to take him to the Safety Committee; she knew why he was doing the latter, he was trying to get away from the silver haired vampire.

"Ain't ya gonna wait for Bean's 'Onee-sama' to come over here?"

"I can't" as he continued to walk towards the Safety Committee.

It was hard for him to even be near her without feeling guilty about what happened the first time he was sent to Yokai Academy. He had beaten her to an inch from death, and Ghoul laughed while doing it. It was even harder to talk to her; he was fearful that he might say something that will blow his cover. He wanted to reconcile with the S-ranked vampire, but he couldn't.

"Kenpachi" he heard Moka say.

"Hai?" as he stopped and turned around to face her.

Moka's eyes widened when she saw his face. He had a large black eye that was still its bluish color showing it was still fresh. Not only did he show no signs of pain from the bruised eye, but it looked to be one of the minor injuries he got. She could tell he had at least one busted rib with how he was holding his side with his free hand.

"I wanted to say thank you" as she continued to look over his visible injuries "for keeping Kokoa-chan safe."

"Actually" as he tried to rub his head but failed because of a sharp pain that came from his ribs "I should be thanking her. Not only did she keep that Minotaur busy while I destroyed the boulder, but she gave me to opening I needed to beat the Doppelganger."

There was a static like boom along with a swish sound that was next to them. Eiyu knew who it was already; Grimmjow and Soifon.

"Told ya it was him" Grimmjow said to the taichou.

"I never said it wasn't;" Soifon snapped back "care to explain why you went AWOL?"

"I was talking with Hiyori-chan…"

The sound of a flip-flop making contact with skin could be heard for half a mile. Hiyori couldn't stand when someone called her 'chan'; she hated it when someone she just met called her that. The person knew nothing about her and had no right or reason to add the adornment to her name.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Eiyu considered himself lucky that he was in bad shape; otherwise the Visored could've sent him flying into a tree with her flip-flop.

"Then a guy appeared. He was the one that tried to kill Mizore-chan;" he explained "after Shuzen-san showed up and knocked him out, we took him to Kuyo-san at the Safety Committee. After I asked him to keep the Safety Committee at a distance so I could find his partner, he said that it would be a test to see if I could handle the pressure of being in the Safety Committee."

Soifon looked at the condition he was in and could tell he needed a lot more training. Just as she said in her dream; he fought too much like an Arrancar. It could have cost him his life, but she was confused about why she felt his reiatsu spike to such a level; it felt almost at a taichou's level.

"Turns out it was a Doppelganger behind everything" as he looked at the unconscious person he was dragging "he knew a lot of hand-to-hand combat styles. I had to out power him rather than out skill him" with a disappointed voice.

"Ya kicked his fuckin' ass;" the panther said "that's all that matters."

"If he's good with close combat" Soifon said as she picked the Doppelganger up by his cut-up vest and put her index finger on his chest "Bakudo Number 1: Sai" as she threw her entire arm to the side.

Immediately, the Doppelganger's arms became wrenched behind his back. This ensured that the Doppelganger wouldn't be able to fight with his hands if he woke up before being put in his cell. Of course, he could always fight with his feet, but that was difficult to do without using your arms to assist in balance.

"Thank you Soifon-sensei" as he took the Doppelganger from her "I need to take him to Kuyo-san and talk with him about joining the Safety Committee" as he walked off.

Moka's eyes widened again after she heard that. What she had just heard was just more proof that Kenpachi Eiyu wasn't Aono Tsukune; Tsukune would never join the Safety Committee. They had investigated the Committee last year, and revealed how corrupt they were; then they tried to kill Tsukune as an example.

Eiyu disappeared with a static-like boom.

"You're training him too much" Soifon said to the panther "if you keep training him in your fighting style he'll get killed."

"Ain't my fault yer off fantasizin' about who-know's-what" Grimmjow spat "and ain't trainin' him yerself."

His comment got him a powerful kick to the gut that sent him flying into a tree. The petite taichou hated when Yoruichi accused her of doing such things, but only snapped back at her mentor. When someone else was stupid enough to make those accusations, they barely walked away.

"Trash" she spat before she shunpo back to the gym for the next class.

"Some lunch break" the panther moaned from underneath the tree.

-Safety Committee-

"I honestly didn't expect you to return with the perpetrator so soon" Kuyo said as his subordinates took the Doppelganger into custody "this explains why we had such issues locating him. You said he was in the castle on the far end of the campus?"

The Doppelganger walked with the guards that escorted him. He had woken up as Eiyu walked into the Safety Committee's Headquarters. Luckily he was keeping quiet about what happened for now. Only time would tell if the double walker would stay quiet forever, or if he rolled over on his employer; or worse exposed Tsukune.

"Hai" Eiyu replied.

"That used to be a prison that housed the most dangerous of criminals" the Kitsune said with a sigh "we didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to go there."

That explained why there were so many skeletons still chained to the walls of the cells that he walked pass. They were criminals that were too dangerous to hold in a normal prison. That didn't explain why they were left there though, but it was probably better that he didn't ask. He was just glad there weren't any Hollows there that they would've had to kill as well. Just fighting the Doppelganger was hard; he didn't want to imagine what it would've been like having to fight him as well as however many Hollows.

"That's probably why he went there;" the Fraccion said back "the place was in ruins and looked like it would fall down any minute."

"I expected you to come back in better condition as well" as he looked at the battered teen.

With how strong the Fraccion appeared to be, he was expecting this to be an easy arrest for the servant of demons. Especially when the demon he served was a panther demon; the training the panther demon was putting the Fraccion through must not be all that intense if the brown haired boy came back in this sort of condition.

"He copied my form, and copied my strength. It wasn't easy to beat him."

He didn't want to get too specific about what happened. All he wanted the Kitsune to know was that he won the fight and brought the one responsible to the Committee. This should get him in, which is what he wants.

"But you did" as he walked towards the interrogation room "you're true test will be at the end of the week. I suggest you train."

-Ruby-

The witch walked through the cafeteria looking for the students that the Chairmen had requested. With it now being close to the end of lunch, she didn't have much time left to locate the three students before she'd have to start going from classroom to classroom. She was backlogged enough as it is, the last thing she needed was to spend the entire day looking for three students. That would cause her to spend the next week trying to catch back up and another month trying to get ahead again.

"Ruby" she heard Kurumu call out to her "hey Ruby!"

She walked over to her blue haired friend. It had been a long time since she was able to sit down and chat with the succubus, but with everything that has been happening, it couldn't be helped. Eventually though, she'd be ahead enough in her work to be able to do a girls' night out with her friends. Maybe that's what the Chairman meant when he said that he should send her on a vacation soon.

"Kurumu" Ruby greeted with a smile "I wish I could stay and converse, but I need to find Matsumoto-san, Kusajishi-san, and Kenpachi-san. The Chairman wishes to speak with them."

That worried the succubus. It wasn't often that the hooded man requested someone to be in his audience. She wondered if it had anything to do with the masked creatures that have been showing up lately, or even, the killings that have happened. Eiyu was starting to be more and more like Tsukune than she originally thought. At first she thought it was just in looks and personality; now, she could see that there was something more to him. Even she knew that the hooded man only requested certain people to talk to and Eiyu was now on that very short list.

"Rangiku just went to the bathroom;" Kurumu said "but I'm not sure where Eiyu is. What's the other student's first name?"

"I believe it is Yachiru" as she looked around "but I don't see anyone with pink hair."

"She might be clinging to Eiyu's shoulder" as she thought about it.

"YOU MEANIE!" they heard a girl shout.

Everyone in the cafeteria looked towards the source of the shout and saw a little pink haired girl pulling on a brown haired boy's hair as she rode his back. It wasn't every day they got lunch and a show; ok, maybe it was, but never one as entertaining as this. The boy got forced to the ground and the tiny girl began to jump up and down on his rib cage, causing the boy to let out sounds that showed he was in pain.

"You go get into a fight and don't take me with to watch" as she pulled the legs of his jeans up and starts pulling leg hairs.

"I'm sorry Yachiru-chan!" the teen said in pain as the roots of his leg hair were ripped from his skin "OWWW…" as the tiny girl repeated the action on the other leg.

Everyone continued to watch with slight fear as the child continued to beat up the already beaten teen. If it wasn't bad enough that he already had a black eye and a few busted ribs from the fight that he was obviously in; the girl added at least three ribs to the count of busted ones, ripped several leg hairs out, pushed his face into the cement that made up the ground of the cafeteria, and then continued to jump on his busted rib cage.

"My ribs…" Eiyu cried as his hand twitched and Yachiru stormed off, her Youki clearly showed that if you didn't get out of the way you'd suffer the same fate.

Mizore appeared next to Eiyu and gently poked him with her hand. She never would've suspected such a tiny girl able to do so much damage to someone that she cared for. The yuki-ona would never have done anything like that to Tsukune when he was alive; nor would she ever consider it as a possibility. Of course, the Fairy that just stormed off did seem rather attached to the Fraccion and didn't like to miss anything he did. Several people were muttering amongst themselves and thought the Fairy had killed Eiyu.

Ruby looked at the sight and felt bad for Tsukune, and wanted to be in his position. The sweet pain that would be coursing through her body at this point would be more than enough to push her over the edge. And if it was Tsukune that caused such pain, her life would be perfect and she could die with a perverse smile on her face.

"Kenpachi-san" Ruby said as she walked up to the badly injured teen "the Chairman wishes to speak with you."

"H… Hai" he managed to say as a breath of air escaped his mouth.

"Kusajishi-san" as she directed her attention to the small girl "he wishes to speak with you as well."

"You have pretty eyes" Yachiru giggled as she looked at the witch.

-Chairman's Office-

The hooded man waited patiently in his office as he continued to read a manga his mentor sent him. He was beginning to see what the perverted seal master saw in the mass printed graphic novels. There were several good manga that the seal master spoke about and often had his female servants dress up as characters from certain ones. The Exorcist wouldn't even consider going that far with the books, but they were a good way to pass the time. He closed the book and put it back in his desk moments before his office door opened; he always did have rather good timing.

"**That didn't take as long as I was expecting"** with a snicker as he watched his witch employee lead the six he requested into his office.

He looked at the petite woman that walked at the head of the group; he could feel her reiatsu, even with it being hidden by the false body she was in. With what he knew about the Seireitei, she was a taichou; that much he could tell with just her reiatsu. Looking at her, he could also tell she was a martial arts expert; most likely a member of the Onmitsukido and a guard of the Shihoin heir or heiress, that clan was always weird like that.

The next person he saw was a blonde with a set of breasts that were larger than Kurono Ageha had; he remembered how much trouble that succubus caused at his Academy. He often thanked the Shinigami King that her daughter wasn't like her mother, too much; she did try to create her own personal harem at the beginning of last year. He probably had Tsukune to thank for stopping that plan. With the reiatsu he was feeling from her, she was an upper level fuku-taichou, maybe even taichou level; something was keeping her from being promoted though.

He heard the sound of chewing from below his line of sight. As he leaned over his desk, he saw a small pink haired child snacking on what looked like a laffy-taffy. She looked like she was upset about something, but was enjoying chewing on the taffy candy; while she looked only ten, she was most likely a century old which was still young by a spirit's standards. The tiny girl had an extreme amount of reiatsu she had was far more than he was expecting for someone her size; with the amount she had, she was most likely a fuku-taichou. He could also feel someone else's reiatsu on her; like she spent an unreal amount of time with the person. He couldn't gauge the level of the person's reiatsu, but he figured the person had to be powerful.

The next person that walked in was the girl in the red track suit. A smile grew on his face when he felt her reiatsu; he never thought that a shinigami would ever have Hollow powers. It didn't take him using the seals in his office to be able to feel her reiatsu; while the snaggletoothed girl was good at hiding her reiatsu, he knew how to detect it even when it was hidden. He could feel that her Hollow wasn't natural either; someone had forced the Hollow on her. A part of him wanted to laugh at how familiar that sounded, but he held off; for now.

Tsukune was the next to walk in; a warm welcoming smile found its way on to his face as he felt the boy's reiatsu. It was roughly a fuku-taichou's level, and he could feel the Hollow side's reiatsu just beneath his own. While the teen always did have a way of surprising people, he wasn't expecting him to have so much reiatsu so soon; he had guessed that it would take at least a year before he had this much reiatsu. It was also a surprise to see him so beaten up already though; he was expecting at least a week before the boy started looking for trouble.

"**Ever full of surprises, aren't you Tsukune?"** he asked with a chuckle.

Tsukune stopped mid way through the door and looked at the hooded man with a look that showed how surprised he was. This man knew who he was, and knew who he was when he was alive. Then he felt something strange in him, something he didn't like; an instinct telling him to kill the hooded man. However, he knew better than to even consider trying to attack the man; Ruby trusted him, and that was enough for him to trust the man.

"What the fuck is this?" Grimmjow spat as he was forced to stop by something invisible.

Ruby whipped around and had her wand pointed at the sensei in a split second. She had designed the seals that were carved into the door and window frames herself; they were designed to keep Hollows out of the Chairman's office. But she never would've suspected the blue haired sensei to be a Hollow. He didn't behave like a normal Hollow.

"**Just as I thought"** the Chairman said **"however, I never expected Yamamoto to work alongside Hollows."**

"Don't lump me in with those Hollows" as he looked into the man's glowing eyes "I'm stronger than them. And I really don't get a choice."

The panther hated being looked at as a mere basic Hollow. He fought hard to become a Menos Grande, and even harder to gain enough power to become an Adjuchas. Through the countless years of fighting, consuming other Hollows, and gaining power; he had earned the right to no longer be lumped with the basic Hollows that were mindless.

"**An Arrancar… my my;"** as he stood up and walked over to the panther **"I've never seen one so…"**

"Strong?" with a smug smile as he looked at the hooded man.

"**Complete;"** as he stood in front of the Arrancar **"I will admit that you are by far the most complete Arrancar I have ever laid eyes on. I have even seen Adjuchas try to rip off their masks to become Arrancar only to doom themselves with a form that made them look even more monstrous than before. How did you do it?"**

"Probably Aizen-teme" Hiyori spat.

"Sounds like I ain't the only one that hated that prick;" Grimmjow said as he looked at the Visored then back to the hooded man "now are ya gonna get out of my face, or do I have ta blast ya with a Cero?"

The Exorcist just looked at the Arrancar with his glowing eyes; there were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was going to refrain for now. Right now there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"**With as entertaining as it would be to have you **_**try**_** to attack me with a Cero;"** as he snapped his fingers and dropped the barrier that was keeping Grimmjow from entering his office **"there are a few things that are more important than your futile attempts to make yourself feel like a Vasto Lorde."**

Grimmjow just growled as he walked into the office.

"**My Shikigami intercepted a broadcast about an hour ago;"** as he sat back at his desk **"what I saw was most impressive, Tsukune-kun. I never would've expected you able to overpower a Doppelganger after he copied you. While I would gladly gloat about how strong you have become; I wish to show everyone what my Shikigami recovered from a back broadcast."**

The small eye ball looking creature crawled out of a small cage on the desk and projected an image on the wall. While the image was extremely dark, they could make out figures. There were several people visible; there was a tall one that stood in the back, there were a few women, one of which had a large bust and her arms crossed underneath it.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes as he looked at the image; there were only a few figures that he might be able to identify. The woman with her arms crossed under her chest looked familiar, but he knew it couldn't be her. The Old Fart, as he calls Yamamoto, said that there were no surviving Arrancar from the battle in the Fake Karakura Town. No one knew for sure what happens to an Arrancar when they die; some say they might get lucky and be purified like a normal Hollow, and others believe that one simply turns to ash and scatters in the wind. The truth could be anything.

"**Do you see an old ally Jagerjaquez-san?"** noticing how intently the Arrancar was starring at the image.

"If I do;" as he looked at the hooded man "we're fucked. That woman looks like Harribel" as he pointed to the wall.

The Tercera Espada was the only confirmed Vasto Lorde that Aizen managed to recruit into his army. While he often suspected Ulquiorra to be a Vasto Lorde as well, but he never managed to confirm it.

"**What do you know about her?"**

"Yer jokin'; right? The bitch was harder to figure out than Ulquiorra. The only thing I know about her is that she was a Vasto Lorde before she was turned into an Arrancar."

"**That could present a problem in the near future;"** as he tapped his chin **"I personally have never had the pleasure of facing one in combat, but I know of their strength. One could possibly give even a Hades Lord such as myself problems; however, I doubt one would be able to last long against my mentor or our leader though."**

The screen that was in the room flickered to life and Yamamoto was seen. Everyone looked at the elderly man with surprise; no one was expecting to see the sou-taichou.

"**Yamamoto, old friend; how have things been?"** the Exorcist greeted in a casual manner.

"Mikogami," the sou-taichou said with a smile "ever since Kurosaki defeated Aizen things have been back to normal. I'm sorry I had to cancel our annual tea time; things became rather hectic after Kuchiki Rukia got deployed to Karakura Town. First we had Kurosaki invading the Seireitei, then what we believed was Aizen's murder, during the execution of Kuchiki Kurosaki interrupted and saved her by defeating three fuku-taichou with only his bare hands and Kuchiki-taichou with his bankai. After Kurosaki defeated Kuchiki-taichou, we found that Aizen wasn't murdered and he was behind everything from the hollowfication incident over a hundred years ago to the making of an Arrancar army."

"**Sounds like you've been far busier than I;"** with a slight snicker **"and now it seems my muscle has become yours"** as he looked at Tsukune **"I can assure you that he will most likely break rules, disobey orders, and probably end up nearly causing a full scale war. However, he will always do what he feels is right;"** looking back to his friend **"in the end, he is well worth the trouble."**

Soifon mentally sighed when she heard this; Tsukune was just a version of Kurosaki that she actually liked. Of course, they did start out as allies, whereas Kurosaki was an enemy when she first heard of him; so Tsukune had that going for him. Also, Tsukune addressed superiors properly where Kurosaki was almost as bad as Jagerjaquez when speaking to a superior.

"I am well aware of his ability to break rules;" Yamamoto said sternly "I witnessed him fighting Kurotsuchi-taichou just the other week. The only reason he wasn't charged with treason was because the Shinigami Academy hadn't started at the time and because he was protecting Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou."

Everyone just looked at the teen with a surprised look; especially Soifon. He had enough guts to stand up to the creepiest taichou in the Gotei Thirteen and got luck by not getting smacked with a treason charge. Grimmjow was snickering, Yachiru was pouting about not being able to watch Chocolate-Hair fight, Hiyori and Rangiku were dumbstruck, and Soifon was trying to figure out how he survived. She knew about the taichou's Shikai abilities, and heard about his bankai; just the taichou's Shikai should've been enough to kill him.

"He also gained Shikai in that fight" the sou-taichou added.

Now, everyone was staring at him intently. Rangiku remembered the first time she saw him he didn't even have his zanpakuto; now he already has Shikai. Again, Grimmjow was snickering and Yachiru was pouting. Hiyori dead-paned to the floor after finally putting all the pieces together; he was a freshman in the Shinigami Academy and had Shikai, something that was _never_ done before. Soifon was curious about what his Shikai looked like while trying to figure out how he did it.

"What?" Tsukune asked as he looked at the group of people staring at him.

"DO YA HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR SOMEONE TA GAIN SHIKAI?" Hiyori shouted at him.

"Ummmm…"

Hiyori smacked him with a flip-flop.

"That was a rhetorical question" as she stormed out of the office.

The Visored remembered how long it took her to gain Shikai; almost twenty years after graduating the Shinigami Academy. She hated that others in her class had Shikai before graduating, but she was the only one in their graduating class that ever got promoted to a seated officer. It took countless hours of trying to communicate with her zanpakuto before she even heard it speak to her; even longer to learn its name. Then Tsukune shows up and has Shikai on the first day of classes; she was jealous.

"It would seem that her temper hasn't changed much;" Yamamoto said "I'm surprised she didn't lash out on the Doppelganger you defeated Aono" as he cracked his eyes open and glared at the teen "getting involved with the living's affairs was something I ordered you to not do. Yet you disobey a direct order and went looking for the fight you were in…"

"Don't start spoutin' that load of bull shit" Grimmjow said cutting the sou-taichou off "as I recall; you ordered him ta do whatever it took to make everyone believe he was his alias. Thanks to that fight, he now has a spot on the Safety Committee here; somethin' that caught that silver haired annoyance by surprise. The way I see, he was following your orders to the letter."

Rangiku looked at the Arrancar with a surprised look. The only one that ever spoke to the sou-taichou like that was Kenpachi-taichou, but even he knew how to make it sound respectful. Everyone knew the battle crazed taichou would be more than willing to fight Yamamoto, but even he acknowledged that the sou-taichou was ridiculously powerful. The panther Arrancar was going to be in lots of pain very soon; most likely because of the petite taichou that was giving him a death glare. The sou-taichou just looked at the loud mouthed Arrancar with his eyes still cracked open.

"I see your point;" causing everyone in the room to deadpan, even Grimmjow "however, do not attempt to skirt the boundaries of orders again."

"Hai" Tsukune said.

He knew better than to test the limit of the sou-taichou's patience's.

"Yamamoto-sou-taichou" as he thought of something.

"What is it Aono?"

While the boy was respectful, there were moments when he was unknowingly disrespectful. Even with his knowledge of Yokai Academy, he blew his cover and engaged in combat with an inhabitant of the Academy.

"Could you send Nemu-fuku-taichou;" causing everyone to look at him, even Ruby and Soifon "Kuyo-san said that my real test to get into the Safety Committee will be at the end of the week. I might need my zanpakuto, but I don't want to risk revealing my identity by being out of my gigai."

The sou-taichou thought about it for a second and was glad the boy was learning. He was thinking ahead and more like one who does Living World deployments. This was a good thing.

"Very well" just before the screen went blank.

"**I believe it would be wise for everyone to return to their classes;"** the Exorcist said **"we wouldn't want certain people to become suspicious of your actions."**

The group nodded as they turned and headed towards the door.

"**Except for you Tsukune; I wish to speak with you still"** Tsukune stopped and looked at the hooded man **"alone"** as the man looked at Ruby.

The witch followed the shinigami and single Arrancar out of the office. She never would've thought that the Chairman was friends with the old looking shinigami. The way they spoke to each other showed they have seen many battles together and most likely had a history that spanned back for several years; how many years, she wasn't sure of. Another thing she was pondering was; why would the Chairman wish to speak to Tsukune alone? She knew he was a shinigami, and now knew more about what has happened since he died; so what could be so secretive that he wouldn't be able to bring it up while everyone was in his office?

"**You never cease to amaze me, Tsukune-kun"** the Exorcist said as he leaned back in his chair.

This was the truth without a riddle; something he rarely gave. He knew that Tsukune was human from day one of the previous year and watched as the boy became popular with the female student body. The teen befriended a vampire that was the strongest class, and even had the guts to endure anything that came his way; be it fists, or the metaphorical obstacle that made him stand out amongst the Yokai.

"**With your condition I was honestly expecting you to windup a Hollow; yet here you stand as a shinigami. I guess I shouldn't have under estimated you though. Your resolve always hardened when you were protecting your friends, but tended to become soft when you attempted to impress a certain young lady."**

"Akashiya-san?" he asked.

"**Good to see you remember."**

"I'm sorry, but I don't;" as he looked to the side "I've been getting flashes of memory, but I don't know when they happened or if I'm seeing them in the right order."

"**While I would find it entertaining to enlighten you on your time here when you were alive, there are other matters for us to speak of. Where to start…"** as he looked at the boy **"inform me on what you remember and I will tell you new information about what you already know."**

Tsukune started from the first thing he remembered; Kurumu nearly suffocating him. Then made his way through minor things such as lunches with his friends and having his neck bitten, and then what few things that seemed major to him. When he mentioned remembering a large skeleton looking person, the Chairman snickered; he was keeping information to himself. Of course, he didn't remember anything else.

"**The skeleton thing you remembered was once the class president of his graduating class;"** the Exorcist began **"his name was Kaneshiro Hokuto, and it turns out he joined an organization that wishes to cause a global war between Yokai and humans not long after he first enrolled here. I haven't been able to locate him as to handle his condition before he completely submits to his darkening nature. As for your attempted murder, I am surprised that you are going to join the very organization that sought to exterminate you; I applaud your courage, but I am concerned about what it might do to you. However, I am sure you will manage to maintain your current behavior even with the negative influences around you; namely Jagerjaquez. And your Ghoulish nature"** still maintaining a straight face.

Tsukune froze when he heard this; no one else was around to see Ghoul control him. How could this man know about him, even though he may remember nothing but just how much was the hooded man keeping from him?

"**There is little that goes on in my dimension that I am unaware of; speaking of which, I need to have a chat with Jagerjaquez later today. But getting back on topic,"** as he leaned forward and locked his fingers in front of his hooded face **"have you reconciled with her yet; or are you too busy hiding from your fears and problems to attempt? I already know the answer, so save your breath. I can assure you that she has great repentance she wishes to show you; all you must do is give her a chance to. Of course, with you being undercover it will be hard to do; you will have to tell them in due time Tsukune, remember that. You may go to your next class"** as he leaned back into his large chair.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Grimmjow was leaning against the wall waiting for Tsukune to leave the creepy man's office. He already hated the 'Hades Lord', as he called himself, and wanted to knock him down several pegs. If those seals weren't there to keep him out, he could've blasted him in a heartbeat and would've laughed the rest of the day. The shaded man already reminded him of Aizen.

"Grimmjow-san" he heard Tsukune say with surprise.

"First thing's first;" as he walked up to Tsukune before smacking him on the back of the head "I'VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN," as he held his middle and index finger to show a distance "I AM THIS CLOSE TO PULLING YER SEXUALITY INTO QUESTION! That chick was bangin' and yer tellin' me ya didn't fuck her?"

He saw the way the witch looked at his pupil; she was completely into him. She had a respectable rack, nice ass, and with how she was talking to herself about him, she had to be a masochist. How could Aono not be fucking her on the side?

"**I assume you are referring to my assistant, Toujo-san;"** they heard the Exorcist say **"they may have been friends when he was alive, but that is all they were. However much the girl wishes it were more. Besides,"** as he looked at Grimmjow **"I frown upon romance in the office; even if it is only physical."**

Grimmjow merely looked at him with surprised eyes.

"**There is little that goes on in my dimension that I am unaware of"** as the hooded man walked back to his desk with a snicker.

"And people call me a pervert" the Arrancar said with a sweat drop.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note:

I'm going to answer some of the questions from the one-shot in my Q-A section as well as questions from chapter 14. Also, for those of you that put Pure Blood and Half Blood on the story alert list; that story is a one-shot, so there will be no updates for it.

Pyromania101 (From Pure Blood and Half Blood):  
Q) Since Tsukune apparently can't achieve Bankai through conventional means, perhaps he could do it through unconventional means?  
A) Yes, he will gain bankai through unconventional methods.

Alhazad2003:  
Q) Is Harribel still alive?  
A) Yes she is. And I never said it was Hokuto that was in the group.

Pyromania101 (From IHEAY):  
Q) So, is that woman Harribel? If it is, then why would she join Fairy Tale (if it is Fairy Tale)?  
A) Yes, it was Harribel; I'll reveal why she's with them later.

Before I get back to the story, I wish to say this:

I NEED MORE REVIEWS PEOPLE!,

Demon.

Xxxxxxxx

Tsukune soaked in the pool and let the mysterious compounds heal his wounds. He was glad that whatever happened to erase the red head's memory happened; it kept his identity secret and meant he could stay here. The small vampire was causing enough problems without knowing his true identity; he could only imagine what she'd do if she remembered what happened. Not only could it cause the silver haired vampire to never leave him alone; he had enough problems, and guilt, that involved her.

Right now Ghoul was being surprisingly quiet considering everything that has happened in the past few hours. He was expecting the dark entity within him to be saying provocative things about Soifon, snickering about beating the Doppelganger, or spouting something completely random. He hadn't said anything since the fight; which he was still trying to figure out how he won.

"I'm wondering if yer Hollow helped ya win;" he heard Hiyori causing him to jump.

"H-H-Hiyori-chan…" Tsukune stuttered as his heart slowed down.

"If ya don't stop callin' me that I'm gonna beat the shit outa ya;" as a vein pulsed "call me san, or I'll use my Hollowfication to make ya. Anyway, I think yer Hollow gave you some serious power. I could literally see a mask in yer reiatsu; I've heard that Kurosaki had managed something like that, but I didn't believe it."

Tsukune only looked at the water and starred at his reflection. The ripples in the water that were formed from his breathing distorted his image; it made his image look like something else. The shape of his reflection no longer looked anything close to human, but rather something like a Rorschach Test. The only problem was he didn't have an answer for what he saw in the water.

"You really think I'm a Visored?" he asked as he pulled himself out of the water.

Hiyori just looked at him with an annoyed stare as the boy wiped the water off his torso. She would've left by now if she didn't believe he was a Visored; of course, she found her new vampire friend entertaining. If Tsukune didn't go with her to Karakura Town, she could always talk with the creepy hooded guy and see if she could stay here. It would allow her to try to convince the still-in-training shinigami to go to Karakura Town to help him gain control of the Hollow within him; plus it would allow her to spend time with her new friend.

"I wouldn't waste my time if I didn't;" as the teen put his top back on "we can do this one of two ways: either you come with by choice, or I beat the shit outa ya and drag yer unconscious body to Karakura Town."

She narrowed her eyes at the teen as he put his zanpakuto back in his sash. The brown haired boy was being hard headed, but she had an even harder head than him. She had a record of being stubborn and persistent when she wanted to be, but always hard headed.

"I can't go…" he started to say.

"Should've known we'd have to do it the hard way" she sighed as she drew her zanpakuto.

Tsukune heard the Visored drawing her zanpakuto just before he turned around to see her coming at him with her blade ready to cut into him. He used sonido to dodge the incoming bladed attack; he wasn't expecting the blonde to attack him. There wasn't any part of him that wanted to fight against the Visored; he had just finished fighting the Doppelganger, and had to train for the test that Kuyo was going to give him at the end of the week. There was other training he needed to do, but it wasn't Kendo training at the moment; he wanted to work on his close combat skills so he wouldn't have to be forced to use raw brute force to win a fight.

"I don't want to fight;" Tsukune said as he ducked underneath the next attack "there's no reason for us to fight, Hiyori-san."

"I told ya that I'd beat the shit outa ya and drag yer ass to Karakura Town; I don't care if ya don't think that there ain't a reason ta fight. I suggest ya draw yer zanpakuto unless ya wanna get cut up;" as she shunpo behind him.

Tsukune quickly drew Bloodriver and blocked Hiyori's blade from slicing into his chest. The small former shinigami had a lot of strength behind her attacks; he was not expecting her to be that strong. The force from the attack pushed him backwards and into a boulder. He let out a grunt of discomfort as he felt his ribs begin to feel like they might break again. His eyes widened when he saw something white growing on her head; it grew further and further until it made a Hollow mask.

The masked Visored put her hand right in front of Tsukune's face and blasted him with reiatsu until he went through the boulder he was already in. She enjoyed doing it to Ichigo when they first fought, and she enjoyed watching the brown haired boy get blasted through the boulder by the attack even more. Blood spilt from his mouth as small pebbles of the boulder fell onto him and he rolled to his stomach to get up.

"_**This is what it means to be Visored" **_her water-like voice said to him _**"bein' able to call yer Hollow's power whenever ya need it, or just wanna do it fer kicks"**_ as she lifted the mask away from her face and showed her yellow eyes that were set in black _**"the only down side is that ya have to battle yer Hollow for control. Ichigo was smart enough to join us, not that you'll get much of a choice if ya wanna keep everyone safe"**_ as she put her mask back on and attacked him again.

Tsukune watched as the former ranking shinigami drew closer to him at a surprising speed. He could barely keep up with her, but he could still see enough to know when to move. As soon as he used sonido to put distance between himself and the Visored he focused on staying on the defensive in the fight that had just broke out between the two. He knew that he wouldn't be able to fight her on an equal level, but he had to at least hold her back till either Soifon or Grimmjow showed up; he really didn't care which one, although he would prefer it to be Soifon.

"_**Playing defense ain't gonna keep ya safe"**_ Hiyori said as she shunpo behind him and made a slash across his back before nailing him with a kick to the side of his face.

He knew the Visored was right; not only was she properly trained to be a shinigami before she had the Hollow within her forced on her, but she was a seated officer before she ran from the Seireitei. Not only was he still in the Shinigami Academy, but he didn't even know how to fight with a zanpakuto properly yet; he didn't even know how to fight with just his hands properly either. The only advantage he might have over the girl would be Kido; she had yet to show she knew any sort of Kido. It was his only hope of being able to walk after they were done fighting.

"Hado Number 31: Shakkaho" as he fired the red orb towards the Visored.

Hiyori didn't think anything of the incoming spell. The boy that was now her opponent couldn't cast it at a strong enough level earlier, so it was impossible that he could do anything to her with the spell. She was sadly mistaken; the spell exploded in her face and sent her flying backwards into a boulder. It had caught her completely off guard, and she paid the price for being arrogant and impatient; again. Her mask began to crack because of the hit she had just taken, but she quickly repaired it and began another attack; only much more careful than her previous one.

It was just like the hooded man had said; Aono was full of surprises. Not only did he nearly break her mask with a single attack, but he kept managing to dodge her attacks; all-be-it just barely, but he still dodged them. The only problem her opponent faced though was stamina. She knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer and that's when she'd start to do serious damage to him. Deep down, she hoped this wouldn't force his Hollow out like it did Ichigo; there was no one here to help her if she'd need it.

Tsukune barely had enough strength to block the incoming attack. She fought like someone from the Eleventh Division when it came to ferocity, but she had more control over her attacks; not even his newly developing Hierro could stop her blade. They were specifically meant to wear him down to ensure victory, but it wasn't enough to kill him should he fail to block or dodge and attack. As her blade clashed with his, she pushed off the ground and forced him to fall into the pool she had backed him up to. She knew of its healing properties, and wanted to cause him to fall in it; this would keep her from killing him because of his injuries and let her get out some aggression she had built up since the Winter War had ended.

Tsukune felt his foot catch on something just before he fell backwards and splashed into the pool he was in just before Hiyori attacked him. His body tingled as the water found its way into his wounds and healed them. With how the female Visored was fighting him, this stroke of luck didn't mean much. She was still too strong for him to defeat, and he didn't want to release his Shikai; the way it looked made him feel that it was only meant to cause pain.

"_**Come on Aono;"**_ Hiyori spat as Tsukune pulled himself out of the water _**"I ain't done kickin' yer ass. I thought you were stronger than this."**_

She honestly did expect him to be stronger than this. Not only did he supposedly have Shikai, but he could use a Kido spell without the incantation and could use an Arrancar ability that no other Visored could. If what she heard from Yoruichi, Yamamoto and just feeling his reiatsu; he should be able to keep up with her without a problem; yet here he was panting for air while blood seeped from his wounds.

"I'm not going to fight you Hiyori-san" he said as he stood up.

"_**Ya ain't got a choice"**_ as she attacked him again.

This time, she was going to seriously wound him. She was going to make him pass out from blood loss and then drop his sorry ass into the pool before she dragged him to Karakura Town for training. Three days, that's the amount of time she has spent getting to this point so far and it was starting to get annoying as hell. The only thing that made it any fun was the vampire she had beaten on her first day on the campus. The red head was from a completely opposite background as her, and yet they were pretty good friends already; she had expected her to be some stereotypical, annoying, rich bitch. But she wasn't; the vampire was much like her and sought the same thing she did, respect from those around her.

She swung her sword at him only to have it stopped midway. When she looked back she saw the very person that asked for the Visoreds to begin with; Soifon. She had that serious look that Hiyori always remembered her having, but there was a different look in her eyes as well; she didn't quite understand it though. The only thing she could use to describe the look was concern; the thought made her laugh, the Soifon she remembered never showed concern for anyone but Yoruichi.

"Soifon-taichou" Tsukune said with a surprised tone.

He honestly wasn't expecting anyone to show up to save him from the onslaught he was facing. Although, he was very glad that she did; there was no telling how much longer he was going to be able to last against the Visored. If she hadn't showed up, he probably would be knocked out right now and on his way to Karakura Town; not by choice either.

"I think that is enough from you" the petite taichou said to the Visored as she landed a kick to her masked face.

She had watched the entire fight while she kept her reiatsu hidden. For some odd reason, it caused her slight pain for her to watch Tsukune get thrown around like he did. Every hit he took caused her heart to skip a beat, every time he blocked or dodged she let out a sigh of relief, and when he fell into the pool she was thankful that he was going to heal; it was getting harder for her to keep denying her feelings for him. Even when the brown haired boy was being trained by an Arrancar, she couldn't help but to be extremely curious about him; although his fighting style was too predictable.

All of his defensive moves were like an Arrancar, just like she said in her dream; he was training with Jagerjaquez too much and it was showing. She was going to have to train him herself if she expected him to have any real skill and be able to last long as a legitimate shinigami and not some thug that's a member of the Eleventh Division. She cared too much for him to let that happen.

'_Did I just admit that to myself?'_ she thought as she starred at the blonde Visored.

"_**Yer the one that wanted us to help him"**_ Hiyori spat as half her mask fell off her face _**"I've seen his Hollow's mask in his reiatsu. Yoruichi already told us that he's been possessed once already. It's only a matter of time before his Hollow consumes him and he tries ta kill everyone in sight; friend, foe, or just some by-standard. I bet he can even hear his voice; taunting hi**_m, trying to push him till he snaps;" the second half of her mask disintegrated as her eyes turned back to normal "if he doesn't come with me to Karakura Town, he could kill a lot of people."

"Then he will answer for his actions should that happen" the taichou said "however, I doubt Ghoul will possess him again. He's not as pathetic as Kurosaki."

-Grimmjow-

The Arrancar was currently looking through his room trying to find anything that could possibly allow the hooded man to know about his sexual relationship with Shizuka. So far his search has turned up nothing that might be the source. He remembered that Aizen had cameras set up in everyone's room to keep tabs on them; of course he just crushed the ones that were in his room. This new annoyance was much weirder and seemed to be too smart to simply put cameras in every sensei's room; there had to be something he was missing.

"This guy really pisses me off" he complained as he flipped his bed and looked for anything he might have missed.

He heard his door open and saw his feline fuck buddy standing in the door. They might not talk much to each other, but the female cat could tell when he was annoyed at something.

"What's wrong Grimmi?" she asked him as she saw the state of his room.

When the Neko first called him that, it annoyed him like hell. Surprisingly though, he's come to like being called that; although he told her not to call him that in public. He could only imagine what would happen if word spread through the Seireitei that he let someone call him a pet name; or worse, if Kurosaki found out. The repercussion could ruin him and he wouldn't be able to go anywhere without hearing some sawed off prick thinking he wasn't strong; he refused to be inferior in any way.

"That fuckin' Chairman said he knows everythin that goes on here" as he pulled the fridge away from the wall "I'm trying to find what he uses to know everythin'. Fuckin prick needs ta have his ass kicked."

"I'm not too worried" she said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around him.

For some reason, he seemed to calm down when the feline held him. He wasn't sure why though; maybe it was because it was contact that wasn't threatening. After spending his entire life in Hueco Mundo, every little gesture was seen as a threat; not just to him either, even the countless Hollows that still lived there were the same way.

"You said that the Chairman knows everything that goes on?" she asked him.

"Seems so" with a sigh.

"Then…" with a slight pause "how's Tsukune been?"

-Ginnei-

The Werewolf stood at his usual area, the roof top across from the girls' changing room, and was taking pictures of the blonde beauty he had befriended earlier. She had an amazing body, and didn't mind showing it off either; big bonus for him. Her breasts were even bigger than Kurumu's, and that was saying something considering the Succubus had an extremely large DD-cup or maybe even an E-cup. Another great thing was that she had muscle tone that many girls here didn't have. Some of the chicks at the Academy looked like you'd break them if you'd try anything; a bit of a buzz kill for him.

One thing that didn't set quite right with him though, her scent. He has never smelled anything like hers; only problem was, she wasn't the only one that carried it. The new second year gym sensei has it, the little pink haired girl has it, and the guy that looks like Tsukune even has hints of it; the only one that didn't have the mysterious scent was the new first year gym sensei. Even then, the sensei still had a scent that was easier to describe but hard to notice; it smelled like blood that had been permanently engrained into his skin because of countless years of fighting, and possibly killing. He heard that the sensei was also the full time mentor of the guy that looks like Tsukune.

He giggled as he watched the supposed succubus bend over to put on her skirt. Her ass was shaped like a pear, and he liked when chicks had that shape to their backsides. It often meant that they felt incredible. The panties she was wearing were plain white without any designs that were visible from what he could see; that didn't mean he wasn't going to make sure.

"No, don't put that shirt on;" he complained as he watched Rangiku through his camera lens "it's a little warm out today."

The blonde goddess turned around and looked out the window he was peeping in through. Fear filled his body as he looked at her; did she hear him? That was the question he was asking himself as he ducked beneath the guardrail to hide. Sure the two of them hit it off pretty good, and she seemed to enjoy when he fondled her tits; he just wasn't sure about how she felt about peeping toms. If she was like other girls, then he was going to be sore if he was caught or found out again.

He carefully peeped back over the railing and looked through his camera at Rangiku; what he saw made him blush wildly. She was waving at him and blew him a kiss before taking off out of view. Not only did she know he was there, but she only encouraged him to keep up his hobby.

-Later: Tsukune-

The chocolate haired teen was soaking in the pool again to help his aching muscles. Soifon had begun to show his how to fight without a zanpakuto, and she didn't take it easy on him. In the first five seconds he had a lip busted open because of a kick to the face; it only got worse from there. By time they were done, he had three bruised ribs again, and possibly to fractured bones, his stomach felt like someone had smashed a sledgehammer into it, and he hit the ground so much that his face had dirt all over it. After they got done with that, Soifon broke down his fighting style and told him that he fought too much like an Arrancar. Each of his attacks was straight forward and easy to see through; not to mention that he couldn't even hit her once.

He looked over and saw the petite taichou stretching on the ground. A blush grew on his face as he saw her bend forwards to stretch the muscles in her lower back. While her haori covered her up, he could still make out the curves of her backside. He quickly looked away when Soifon sat back up and started to look towards him; the last thing he wanted was for her to think he was a pervert. Another image flashed in his mind. He was having lunch with the werewolf and saw himself peeking over a window ledge; he saw several girls changing out of what looked like gym clothes.

He shook his head and forced the images out of his mind; he wasn't a pervert and wouldn't do anything like that. Or would he? There had to be a reason why he would look into the girls' locker room like he did. Was he tricked, did he do it by choice, or was it for some other reason?

"If you're done taking your bath" Soifon said "there's a few more things I wish to show you."

"Hai" he said as he got out of the pool, grabbed Bloodriver, and walked over to her.

"Draw your zanpakuto and get into a fighting stance" she ordered.

Tsukune drew Bloodriver and held her the way he remembered in Kendo Class back at the Shinigami Academy. Soifon walked around him a few times to observe his stance.

"Bring your legs closer together;" as she tapped his foot with her own "if you have too wide of a base, it'll be hard to move when you need to. Shoulder length apart works best" as she watched him move his foot to the right position "this way you have enough of a base to keep from falling backwards, but not so much that you can't move if you've locked blades with your opponent."

Tsukune nodded as he listened to her advice.

"Relax your shoulders;" as she noticed how tense he looked "if you become tense in a fight, it'll make your movements easier to see. You don't need to grip your zanpakuto so hard either;" as she placed her hand on his and caused him to loosen his grip "you want to be able to maneuver your blade in combat, but don't have such a relaxed grip that you lose your zanpakuto when you swing at an opponent."

Tsukune tried to hold Bloodriver like he was being instructed to, but he just couldn't seem to manage. He thought it would be easier to do than this. Suddenly, Soifon swatted his hand and he dropped Bloodriver.

"Too relaxed" she said "imagine you are shaking someone's hand."

Tsukune picked up his zanpakuto and imagined he was shaking Bloodriver's hand. He closed his eyes and imagined Bloodriver holding her hand out to him for him to shake it; then he complied. When Soifon swatted it again, he didn't drop his blade. His grip was still sound on the hilt and he didn't even begin to drop Bloodriver.

"Better;" she said "now you need to remember to maintain that stance when you're fighting someone."

"Alright" Tsukune said as he sheathed Bloodriver.

"How often do you stretch?" she asked him.

"I don't…" while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Soifon let out a sigh; she should've expected as much considering the fact that it has been Jagerjaquez that has been training. The Arrancar probably didn't even know what stretching was. This explained why Tsukune was so tense.

"Then I should help you stretch as well."

For the next hour the petite taichou showed him how to stretch properly. She admired the fact that he wanted to learn as opposed to just listening to her talk to keep from getting yelled at for not paying attention. He was probably going to be the best subordinate she's ever had, and it takes a lot to just be a good subordinate; which says something. She saw him fight to hide a blush while she showed him various stretches that were good for the abdominal area and back. The only down side was that he was so tense they had to go through every stretch a few times before he was good and limber. Given Tsukune was still in the Academy, but with how fast he was learning he could graduate in two years as opposed to three or four. When that happened, she hoped that he would be put in her Division. She enjoyed his company and could tell he enjoyed hers.

"Thank you Soifon-taichou" he said as they finished stretching.

Now he didn't feel as tense and while his muscles still ached a little, it wasn't that bad.

"You're welcome" as she walked over to her gigai and got back into it.

"Soifon-taichou…" he said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"I never thanked you for stopping Ghoul," as he looked down "I wasn't strong enough to suppress him and he was going to kill Akashiya-san had you not showed up."

"It was nothing;" as she walked towards the exit "however, you should consider seeking out the Vizoreds for help. They will teach you how to defeat him and use his power as your own" as she walked out the door.

-Moka-

The S-rank vampire finally finished her homework and put her pencil on the desk in front of her. Her literature class was starting to become an annoyance; they already had to write a paper on a book from the library. The only plus side to that was that it wasn't due for another week and a half. She had found an old looking book that appeared to be from the time that Alucard was still alive; the leather cover was worn and bound together with two hinges on the spine and had a third that kept the cover closed. It was an Epic about a Yokai searching for what it meant to 'be Human'. So far she has read fifty pages and the main character has only seen simple kindness that was common amongst every species. It seemed pretty good so far, but with everything that has been going on she doubted she'd be able to finish it in time to write the paper. She'd have to find something else to use for the assignment.

Her eyes moved from the book she had checked out to the Rosary that only Tsukune could remove. She hadn't put it back on since Tsukune used it to repair the barrier around the Academy; namely out of fear that she'd never be able to remove it again. Memories of Omote and Tsukune hanging out with their friends came to her mind. Her soft, kind natured sealed self always hung around Tsukune and every time they'd get close to telling each other how they felt, one of their friends would show up and ruin the moment. She picked up the cross and looked at it. She felt guilty for wanting to stay out and not let Omote see her friends.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give her her life back" she said as she clipped the Rosary back on the chain.

She closed her eyes and waited to be forced back to sleep while Omote was woken up. A few seconds passed and she didn't feel remotely tired. She opened her eyes and looked at the silver cross with confusion.

'_Omote? Are you in there?'_ she asked.

She waited for a response. And waited. And waited. There was no response to her question; it didn't help that she couldn't even feel her pink haired side within her. It was like she was no longer in the Rosary at all; sure she had expected the seal to have been weakened, but not like this.

"What's going on?"

-?-

A man sat at a desk looking over old files that his leader left behind. Ever since his defeat, he has been looking over every file to try to find a way to free his leader. The only problem was that it was going to be harder than anything they've ever done before. Aizen had told him about the shinigami and the Gotei Thirteen; from what he understood, they were surprisingly strong. If they were to break the king of Hueco Mundo out of the Maggot's Nest, they would need an army of strong Arrancar; Arrancar of Vasto Lorde level. The only problem with that was that those level Hollows are so hard to find that Aizen only ever found two in his century of looking; with one of them dead now, they only had one. There was another option though. He looked at a file that had a sealing Kido on it, if he could break the seal on the file he could make another Hogyoku; only this time making it stronger for Aizen.

"The seal will destroy you if you even try to undo it; Fujisaki" a woman warned him.

She remembered when Aizen put the seal on the file and merely encouraged someone to try to open it. Szayel got one of his created Fraccion to attempt to break the seal; this only resulted in the destruction of the servant.

"While I appreciate your concern Harribel," the man said to her "Aizen taught me since I was only five years old. I'm sure I can figure out how to open the file."

Aizen had saved him from death when he was living on the streets of Tokyo. His parents had been killed by Hollows and he barely escaped, but even then, the damage had been done. His parents were killed, his home lost, and he had nowhere to go; he was starving to death when the shinigami approached him. He had his hair slicked back and was wearing a white haori with a katana in the sash that held his top together. After he saw the man, he couldn't remember much; only waking up in a strange place with people with mask fragments on their bodies standing in the room watching over him. It was then that he was told of the afterlife, the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, shinigami, and hollows. It was on that day that his life changed.

"I've been meaning to ask;" as he looked at the blonde Arrancar "how is your stomach? I hope it is healing properly."

"It is taking longer than I anticipated to heal;" as she walked towards the door "but it will not interfere with my abilities in combat. You have my word."

-Tsukune-

After he left the training area that Urahara had made for them he went and found Yachiru so they could get something to eat. It wasn't late in the evening so there should be clubs still in meetings. As soon as he was done eating, he'd go check out the Karate Club to see if he could join. Sure Soifon had said she'd train him for the week, but he wanted to learn as quickly as possible; especially with his test coming up. He wasn't sure what Kuyo had in store for him, but he had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to be easy.

"What'cha thinkin' Chocolate-Hair?" the tiny fuku-taichou asked.

"That Karate Club should still be in session right now" as he finished his snack "if we hurry I should be able to ask if I can join."

"Let's go" she cheered as she hopped onto his shoulder.

Sure she was still mad at him for not taking her with to watch him fight, but she figured that there would be plenty more fights that she could watch. After he mentioned that he was probably going to have a huge fight at the end of the week, she immediately forgave him and made him promise to take her to watch. All he had to do was keep training, only harder than he normally does, and he should be able to get in without a problem.

Eiyu headed towards the gym where the Karate Club trained; luckily it was the actual gym where he had class. Had it been somewhere else, he probably would've ended up wasting time looking for them. He sonido to the gym and listened to Yachiru giggle as vertigo took over her when he stopped in front of the gym. As they walked in, he saw all the members sparring with each other, breaking tombstones, or going through the paces of moves while they waited for a sparring partner.

"Hello" he said to them.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. He suddenly felt afraid of what could happen. Everyone here has been training in martial arts for several years, and he had just started to learn. Should something go wrong, he could end up having to use more strength than he wanted to to get out of here. Then he remembered what Bloodriver had told him; fear is meaningless unless you fear your own power.

"I'd like to join the club" with a confident tone.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

-Las Noches-

Ichigo locked blades with Nel and tried to push her back in order to keep his footing. Ever since he came to Las Noches he's been training with the Arrancar in order to get his former strength back. It was hard for him to believe what it took for him to realize just how weak his final attack against Aizen made him. While he swore he would never say anything about that night, it disturbed him that he couldn't even go toe to toe with Tsukune's darker side; he had to get stronger.

"GOOD MORNING SON!" he heard an all too familiar voice say as a foot connected with his face.

Ichigo got up to see his dad laughing with his usual successful grin on his face. The childish man still greeted him like that even after what they've been through. He was seeing why him and Urahara got along so well.

"It's not morning baka" Ichigo said as he kicked his dad in the face.

As a result, a full scale brawl broke out between the two. Ichigo shouted something as he got his dad pinned to the ground in an arm wrench and pushed the older man's head into the sand. The scruffy man kicked his son off and pile-drove him in the gut before catching him in an arm bar. Their brawl carried on for a few more minutes before Ichigo managed to beat his dad down enough so he'd stop fighting.

"Who the hell greets their kid like that?" Ichigo demanded to know.

"Someone who wants their kids to be aware of what happens around them" Isshin replied just before Ichigo got blindsided with a punch.

Ichigo felt like someone hit him with the same force a black belt would; which only meant one thing, Tatsuki was here too. He went into the air for a few feet before crashing down into the sand. While his body was used to taking powerful hits, she nearly cracked his jaw with that punch; what could he have done to piss her off so badly already?

"YOU SLEPT WITH ORIHIME?" the black belt shouted at him.

Ichigo looked up to see the fires of hell in his former karate partner's eyes. The tomboy had always been protective of Orihime, but he was never sure as to why that was. She would beat the daylights out of Chizuru for even trying to touch the large chested healer. He had only seen her this mad once before, and that was when he said hey to her after Rukia first got Kon for him to use.

"My son is finally a man" the former taichou said with joy.

"YOU'RE THE REASON HE'S AS MESSED UP AS HE IS!" she shouted at the man as she kicked him.

The former taichou immediately put distance between him and the enraged girl before pulling a picture out of his pocket and making claims of joy that their son has finally grown up. Then he began asking it why kids today were so disrespectful to their elders. Everyone just starred with disbelief of what was happening before them, the shinigami was acting like a mental case.

"I don't see what the big deal is" Ichigo said to Tatsuki.

Before he could continue another punch connected with his jaw. This time it did fracture.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T SEE WHAT THE BIG DEAL IS!" as she grabbed him by his top and picked him up.

"Tatsuki-chan" Orihime said as she finally caught up to her friend "n-n-nothing happened."

Her friend had pretty much ordered Ichigo's dad to take her to Las Noches with him so she could see Orihime. They talked for a while before she said that her and Ichigo were getting close and had already slept together. It was clear that the black belt misunderstood the statement when she had hell's fire in her eyes and went running to find Ichigo to beat the shit out of him.

"Why didn't you say that then?" Tatsuki asked as she dropped Ichigo.

Orihime had tried to, but she ran off before the words could be said.

"Ichigo, you never said you have little sisters" Nel said as she looked over the pictures that Isshin was showing her.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note:

No reviews for the last chapter; T.T  
I need reviews to keep me motivated on this story people. I have good ideas for this story but I can't write them if I'm not sure what you think about what I've written so far. Please review,  
Demon

Xxxxxxxx

Grimmjow looked at his fuck buddy and tried to figure out how she knew. He hadn't let anything slip, at least not that he was aware of, and Aono had been addressing him as sama instead of san. He couldn't think of anything that would hint that he fucked up.

"H-how?"

"Your scent" as her tail swayed lazily behind her.

She knew what a panther demon's scent smelled like; she's been with a couple before. Grimmjow's scent might've had the smell of power like a panther demon, but it was the scent underneath that that was wrong. The underlying scent wasn't like a feline like a panther demon's was, but rather like aged blood that was embedded into clothes and couldn't be washed out.

Grimmjow only continued to stare at the Neko while trying to figure out why she didn't say anything, or if she had told the Chairman that already annoyed him. The latter seemed less likely, so that still left the question 'why didn't she say anything'.

-Eiyu-

Eiyu watched as a man walked over to him. He had a strong face with eyes that showed he had no problems fighting anyone, unkempt hair that was sand-blonde; he was wearing the standard uniform of a karate participant and had a black belt. Everyone kept quiet as the person got in arms reach of him. The black belt looked at him intently before snatching Yachiru off his shoulder and throwing her up in the air in a playful manner.

"You're so cute!" he said with a smile.

Eiyu sweat dropped as he watched the black belt continue to toss the tiny fuku-taichou in the air. At first glance, he seemed to be the kind of guy that would only ask for him to make sure the tiny girl stayed out of the way; not the type that would do this.

"Anyone that carries such a cute girl around on their shoulder can't be too bad" the guy said as he caught Yachiru and his voice turned serious "but do you really think you have what it takes?" as he turned to look at him.

"Chocolate-Hair beat a weakling with one hit on his first day here" Yachiru said bluntly "then Yellow-Eyes offered him a spot in the Safety Committee."

Tension suddenly filled the room. Not many people liked the Safety Committee, or those that were a part of it. The fees that they had to pay were ridiculous and then they still had to pay to use the gymnasium to hold matches. The members of the Karate Club slowly started to make their way towards him; this made Eiyu uncomfortable. If something were to happen now, he would have to fight his way to Yachiru before he would leave.

"Get lost;" a guy said in the group that was starting to surround him "you're not welcomed here."

Eiyu just looked at him and saw that he was a brown belt.

"Since when do you have the ability to say who is and isn't welcomed here?" the black belt said to the person "I stand by what I said earlier;" as he tossed Yachiru up in the air again "anyone who carries such a cute girl around on their shoulder can't be too bad. My name is Miyamoto Haiji; I'm the president of the Karate Club" as he caught Yachiru and put her down "you can sit in on a lesson. If I think you can handle being in the club, you can join."

Eiyu nodded in agreement, it sounded far enough considering that no one can actually join a club for another few weeks. At least this way he'd be able to train when Soifon was too busy to train him. Judging from what the Chairman knew about shinigami and the Gotei Thirteen that would be often. Having Grimmjow train him wasn't a major problem, but he felt that it was making him fight more instinctual and brute strength rather than practical and with skill. While he didn't have a problem with fighting off of instinct, he'd prefer to use skill.

"I'm Kenpachi Eiyu" he replied.

"First things first" Haiji said "get him a proper uniform" as he looked at the group behind him.

-A few hours later-

"He hits like a black belt" several of the members were saying as they rubbed their sore spots.

No one had expected the Fraccion to be as strong as he was. His skills were only at a white belt level, but with how hard he could hit an opponent very few would be willing to spar against him; he'd always end up fighting about his level. That wasn't a problem though; it'd look good for the club to have someone like Eiyu. And it would allow them to say they trained someone on the Safety Committee; that in itself was a good reason to let him in. Although Haiji seemed to only want to play with the girl Eiyu carried on his shoulder.

"Well…" Haiji said as he shrugged his shoulders "he was offered a spot on the Safety Committee. That should've been enough to tell you he's stronger than he looks" as he looked over to Eiyu who was wincing in pain as Yachiru poked his bruises while giggling.

The brown haired teen might not know how to fight, but with what he knows, his opponents better be careful not to get hit. His skin was tougher than he was expecting too, the first hit that the brown haired boy took caused the attacker to wince in pain and get punched in the gut. The Fraccion could take a hit and give one even harder. However, there were still some things that weren't adding up; there were points when he was sparring that his eyes seemed to glaze over as his body acted solely on instinct rather than anything else. This wouldn't be a problem if his eyes showed emotion when this happened, but they became emotionless and unfocused on anything. It wasn't noticeable to anyone else, but he could see it. Maybe it was just something that happened to his species when they take too much damage to their bodies. It wasn't unusual for some species to have a defense mechanism that would protect them from harm.

On the plus side, he seemed to be able to control it to some extent. The way he attacked might have been instinctual, but he could see Eiyu forcing himself to hold back the power that would've been used. It could be seen in how he used his attacks; he'd start out full speed and power but would slow down and grow weaker as the attack got closer. It was almost like he didn't want to cause harm unless he needed to do so.

"I don't think he'd be able to last" Haiji said as he walked over to the Fraccion "Kenpachi" he called out to him "a word if you don't mind."

"Hai" as he walked away from Yachiru.

"I don't know if you'd be able to last" Haiji said bluntly "not much is known about your species, but when you were sparring against others I saw your eyes glaze over as the emotion left them and you began to fight more instinctual" as his eyes narrowed and his tone became serious "I'm not sure if it's a way your species protects itself or if it's something else, but if you chose to join I'm not going to let whatever was happening to cause my club members harm. If you lose control of it, I will end you" with seriousness in his eyes.

Eiyu listened and knew what the president of the club was referring to. There were times when he felt he was losing himself in the fight, almost like he enjoyed fighting and didn't care about anything else. His body would only react; his mind wouldn't process anything that it saw, only his body was aware of what was going on. Luckily he could still keep from using too much strength in his punches.

"Here at the Karate Club injuries are normal" Haiji said seeing uncertainty in Eiyu's eyes "bruises and broken ribs mostly. It takes discipline to be able to stick with our club; discipline I saw when you held back when fighting today. If you apply yourself, you could possibly be able to completely control whatever was happening earlier and even use that against an opponent in a match. If you come back tomorrow you'll be able to train with us" as he walked away.

"Does that mean I can join?" with a confused tone.

"Only if you promise to bring this cute little girl with you every day!" as he picked up Yachiru and tossed her in the air like earlier.

Eiyu merely sweat dropped as he watched Yachiru laugh while she was caught. He was serious when it came to Karate, but seemed off any time he saw Yachiru.

"She enjoys watching fights," Eiyu said as he rubbed the back of his head "so it'd be up to her if she wants to come. Yachiru-chan and I should probably get going," as he looked out the windows above the bleachers "it's getting late."

Haiji nodded as he put Yachiru down and she jumped onto Eiyu's shoulder after grabbing the bag that had his school uniform in it. He watched as the Fraccion left the gym while rubbing one of his bruises. Something was off about the unknown species, and not just like he was keeping a skeleton in his closet, everyone has those; rather that he was hiding something big. His gut told him it had something to do with what happened during the sparring matches Eiyu fought in.

Eiyu walked through the empty school yard and was starting to feel hungry. Then again, he expected to feel hungry since he had a very busy day. Fighting a Doppelganger, and then fighting Hiyori, training with Soifon, and finally training with the Karate Club. He didn't even have a real lunch since Yachiru beat him up and the Chairman wanted to speak with him; diner was sounding very good at the moment, a big diner. He could feel he used a lot of reiatsu today and remembered he felt better after eating all that food Isane gave him when he was in the Clinic. Of course ten plates of any meal would fill anyone up and possibly cause stomach pain afterwards.

"What's it like in the afterlife; Tsukune?" he heard a voice say.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou stretched her arms as she finished the last of the paperwork that she needed to fill out. She was still annoyed at the fact that they now had another person that could easily blow their cover if she wanted to. The fact that Jagerjaquez said it so casually also annoyed her; he just walked up and said that Nekonome-sensei knew they weren't who they said they were. The only positive thing that came from that conversation was that Jagerjaquez said that the Neko wouldn't say anything.

The only thing she really enjoyed today was training Tsukune. The rising shinigami was actually a Visored, and by similar means that Aizen gave them their Hollows. Ever since she heard Ghoul tell her how he came to be, she felt empathetic for him; he was betrayed by someone he trusted, just like she thought she was. They had something in common; she never thought she'd have anything in common with anyone other than Yoruichi. These feelings she had were new to her, and while they might worry her she wasn't going to try to hide from them; she'd make sense of them and see what happens.

-Eiyu-

Eiyu looked at the source of the voice and saw the guy from the flashes of memories he's had. He couldn't remember a name, but he remembered he was a Werewolf.

"You have me mistaken for someone else" he said "my name is Kenpachi Eiyu."

"You can't hide your scent" as his eyes narrowed.

The Werewolf vanished and appeared next to him with a punch mid-swing. Eiyu quickly sonido away from him; he was in no condition to fight, so the only thing he could do at the moment would be run. But that could leave the Werewolf able to tell all his friends that he is really Tsukune. If his friends found out who he was, it could cause a lot of trouble; no matter how much he wanted to tell them, he couldn't. The only one that knew his real identity was Ruby, and she promised him she wouldn't say anything about it.

Before he could do anything, the Werewolf was behind him throwing another punch. He didn't have enough time to sonido away, the fist connected with his jaw and sent him sideways. The first thing he did was grab Yachiru from his shoulder to keep her safe before he hit the ground and rolled. He wasn't expecting the punch to be that strong, if they used to be friends then the Werewolf should be holding back, but it didn't seem like he was.

As soon as he stopped rolling, he got on his feet and sonido away from the Werewolf. He didn't have a plan to go anywhere; he just had to get away from the Werewolf. If he didn't, he could end up losing himself in the fight like he did during his spars. It was a struggle to keep control then, now that he feels the day catching up with him there was no way he could keep himself from losing control. A fight was something he didn't want to have right now; there were other things he had to worry about. Each stride he took put distance between him and the Werewolf, or so he thought.

"Running isn't like you Tsukune" he heard the guy say beside him.

He looked over to the source and saw the Werewolf keeping pace with ease. Lazily taking each stride that matched his with precision. Sure he should have expected the Werewolf to be able to keep up, but with his training with Grimmjow he was expecting to be able to put more distance between them before he started to catch up.

"I was expecting you to stand your ground and fight" as the Werewolf looked at him from the corner of his eye "but you're protecting someone; I guess even that hasn't changed" as he connected his fist with Tsukune's jaw.

Tsukune felt like his jaw was about to break from the force he was hit with. Instinctively, he pulled Yachiru close to his body and shielded her from the ground as he bounced across it. His new Karate Club uniform was already blood stained from the spars he was in, and now they have dirt embedded in it; that wasn't his main concern though. Right now he had to find out how to get away from this Werewolf before things got worse; he could already feel himself wanting to fight. If this continued, there was no telling what could happen.

He put Yachiru on the ground as he got up and fought back against the Werewolf. He couldn't risk her safety by keeping her on him; he'd have to put distance between the Werewolf and her.

"Yachiru-chan," as his attack was blocked "run!"

He took a look back to see if she listened, and saw that she didn't; the tiny fuku-taichou was still standing where he set her down at and watching him. Before he could shout at her to run again, a fist smashed into his gut followed by another to the face. Why wasn't Yachiru running like he told her to? Did she really enjoy watching fights so much that she'd risk her own safety to be able to observe? He blocked a punch aimed at his side and retaliated with a kick to the Werewolf's own side. He couldn't remember if they were friends, or enemies; either way, right now he was an enemy. Which meant that he couldn't hold back; he'd have to fight like he was training with Grimmjow, all or nothing.

The only problem was that he couldn't shed his gigai and use all his abilities against the Werewolf. If he could do that, then he'd be able to finish the fight quickly and not have to worry about Yachiru's safety. But if he shed his gigai, he'd prove his identity as Tsukune and he has orders not to reveal his identity. He blocked another punch. If he was trying to keep his identity secret, then why was he fighting the Werewolf? Was it out of self-defense, or was it to show the Werewolf that he could beat him into the ground if he tried to expose him? He couldn't see his real motive for fighting the Werewolf, but he had to at the moment.

"I guess a few things have changed" the Werewolf said with a smile "you're fighting your own fights. And your faster and stronger" as reiatsu could be seen around the Werewolf's body "but I still doubt you'll be able to fight me like this!" as he turned into his true form.

Tsukune's eyes shook as he watched the teen's hair grow all over his body and he changed into a humanoid wolf. Even though the Werewolf was wearing the uniform's jacket, he could still see how strong the half-wolf was. He didn't get to think any further before the Werewolf vanished even faster than before. The speed was unreal; it was almost as fast as the shunpo a shinigami used. If he wanted to be able to move fast enough to dodge any attacks that the Werewolf threw at him, he now had to shed his gigai. He used sonido to try to get away from where he thought the Werewolf was going to appear. As he reappeared next to a tree, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side.

"Too slow!"

Blood began to fill his mouth as he hit the ground. Already he felt he was starting to have difficulty resisting the urge to fight; no matter how hard he tried, it was starting to prove useless. What worried him was the fact that he didn't feel the pain in his neck like he normally did when Ghoul tried to take over him; this was something completely different. Without the pain, he felt like it wasn't Ghoul trying to take over him; at least not the same way he's done before. As he got back up, he heard Ghoul.

'_**Ya really suck at fightin''**_ with a laugh _**'always needed someone else to save yer sorry ass.'**_

'_I can beat him; stop trying to take over'_ Tsukune said.

'_**Ya don't get much of a choice! It was the same way when we were alive;'**_ with a snicker _**'if yer body can't handle the physical stress, I take over. Rather ya like it or not!'**_

Those words hit Tsukune hard. Now he knew that when he takes too much damage, Ghoul could take over him. He had to put as much distance between himself and everyone else; if Ghoul took over, then he'd go after Moka again. Before he could use sonido, the Werewolf was in front of him again. He threw a punch trying to get the Yokai to back off, but was countered with a punch to the gut followed by one to the face. As the hits landed, he could feel something creeping across his eyes as something black began to obscure his vision. Ghoul was taking over, and there was no way for him to stop it.

As the Werewolf threw another punch, his fist was caught. His eyes widened when he saw an emotionless Tsukune holding his fist like it was nothing. Before he could react, a fist connected with his snout and sent him flying backwards into a tree. He couldn't even see the punch that he had thrown; something was happening to his opponent, something he recognized. This only confirmed his thought that his opponent was indeed Aono Tsukune.

He no more got up and there was a hand on his chest throwing him backward into the same tree he had just smashed into. The look he saw on Tsukune's face wasn't the same emotionless look he just saw; no, now there was rage, anger, and hate on his face. As his back slammed into the trunk of the tree, he felt a rib crack from the force; he didn't expect Tsukune to have become this strong since his death only a month ago. He figured Tsukune had strength, but never thought he was that strong. As he got back up, he saw Tsukune right in front of him again; he didn't hear the static like boom that he had heard earlier when Tsukune moved that fast. But the sound of the tree crumbling around him was a little loud.

The possessed Tsukune grabbed the wolf-humanoid by the jacket and picked him up. There was only one thing on his mind, fighting; he didn't care who, he just wanted to fight and kill. This Werewolf would be a good start, but he felt like he would want more; so much more. Just this one wasn't going to satisfy him; he couldn't explain why that was. Before he could make the killing attack, he felt a new reiatsu; a Hollow, a strong one too. He dropped the Werewolf and looked around, just as he looked towards the small pink haired girl he saw the Hollow in the trees behind her; it was large with a mask that resembled a pterodactyl's head, massive wings with feathers, arms and legs, and a long tail.

He quickly sonido over to the tree and tackled the Hollow out of it, trading blows with it as they fell to the ground. Dirt flew into the air as the two crashed into the ground; that didn't stop the possessed shinigami from wailing on the masked beast. He landed hits in the creature's stomach and face; leaving marks on the Hollow's stomach, and cracks on its mask. The Hollow wrapped its tail around him and threw him off and into the tree they had just fell from. Ghoul got up and quickly jumped on the Hollow again, grabbing hold of its wings as he dodged the fist that was coming at him. His grip tightened on the feathers as the Hollow tried to shake him off.

As the Hollow continued to try to shake him off, he became annoyed and grabbed the base of the wing and ripped it off the masked creature's back. The Hollow let out a roar of pain as it continued to fight to get Ghoul off of it. Nothing it was doing was having any affect in removing the possessed shinigami from its back. Another roar of pain escaped it as Ghoul ripped off its other wing and kicked its knees out from under it. The Hollow began to claw at Ghoul with its arms in an attempt to throw the would-be-Visored from its back so it can kill the boy. It grabbed him by the hair and threw him into the ground in front of it.

Ghoul grunted as he hit the ground; while it hurt, it gave him even more control over the body he shared. As he got up, he felt a new hunger within him, it was similar to what he felt when he was alive and had control over Tsukune's body. It was hunger for flesh, any flesh, it didn't matter to him; there was also the thirst for blood he felt. That one wasn't as strong as it was when he was alive, but it was still enough to drive him crazy if it wasn't sated. His body was weak from the long day's events, but he wanted to keep fighting; to kill anyone he could. He lunged at the Hollow and tackled it to the ground again, hitting it where its kidneys would be as they hit the ground.

Gin watched as Tsukune continued to fight the masked creature. It was vicious; the blackened blood stained the ground as well as Tsukune's Karate uniform. The boy that he called friend was fighting in an unexpected way; actually fighting to kill. He watched as the masked creature kicked Tsukune off of it and used its tail to smash him into the ground. The creature quickly got up, only to be met by a hand grabbing its arm; Tsukune had definitely gotten faster since his death, he no more hit the ground and was already back up. The one thing he wasn't expecting though was Tsukune ripping the creature's arm off its torso. Blood sprayed from the opening as Tsukune put the arm to his mouth and bit down on it.

As Ghoul bit into the arm, he could taste the reiatsu that the Hollow had. It was just as strong as he had first thought; roughly upper level of basic Hollows. As he drained the arm of what reiatsu it had, it aged until it looked like a mummy's arm. He eyed the bleeding Hollow as he grabbed the wings that were right beside him and drained them as well. The way reiatsu tasted, it was delicious; he wanted more. He tossed the wings aside and eyed his opponent with a new look; one of hunger that labeled the Hollow as food.

Yachiru watched as her mode of transportation sonido in front of the Hollow he was fighting and landed an uppercut on its jaw. Her eyes shook with fear as she realized that he wasn't himself. This wasn't the kind Chocolate-Hair she knew; his fighting style was completely different and he was fighting to kill without using his zanpakuto. The Chocolate-Hair she knew would've shed the gigai he was in to slay the Hollow and then deal with Puppy when it was safer to. It was harder for her to understand what was going on when he drained the arm and wings he ripped off the Hollow of their reiatsu. He was different, and it scared her.

Ghoul ripped the second arm off the Hollow he was fighting and drained it of reiatsu as the blood was still spewing onto him. There wasn't enough reiatsu in just the limbs he had ripped off to satisfy his hunger; it was a good thing the Hollow wouldn't be able to fight back now. He sonido behind the masked beast and grabbed it in a headlock while biting into the creature's shoulder. As he drained the Hollow of its reiatsu he began to feel his own strength return to what it was just the day before. With each passing second he felt the Hollow struggling to remain standing before it fell to its knees and onto the ground.

The reiatsu had a taste that was almost like blood, or maybe that was him actually draining the Hollow of blood too. As soon as he realized this he released the Hollow from his mouth and let it lay limp on the ground; the Hollow howled as it struggled to roll over and get back up. He might be an abomination, but he wasn't a blood sucking freak like the one that was his reason for existence. He spat the blood that remained in his mouth onto the ground before he grabbed the Hollow again. This time he was only going to devour the reiatsu that the masked creature had; then he'd use that strength to hunt down the S-rank vampire and kill her.

Before he could bite the Hollow he was blindsided by someone. He was expecting it to be the Werewolf or Yachiru, but when he turned around he saw Soifon. This was the second time she had blindsided him like this, only the first time she had much more power behind her kick. It must be because he's in the gigai that she didn't hit him with everything she had.

"What happened?" she asked as she looked at the Werewolf on the ground.

"Puppy attacked Chocolate-Hair" Yachiru said as her body shook "then he started actin' like this" watching Tsukune get back up with anger in his eyes.

Soifon immediately concluded that Ghoul was involved in this. She quickly shunpo in front of him and landed five hits in his chest before doing a back-flip and kicking him away from her. Last time Ghoul took over Tsukune, she easily broke the mask that was forming on his face and broke Ghoul's control. Right now she couldn't tell how far along the mask was from being complete; the gigai was concealing the normal visible affects that happened when Ghoul took over last time. She was now relieved that she decided to check out the alert she got on her Soul Phone.

Ghoul back-stepped after getting kicked in the jaw. He had no intention of attacking her unless she got in his way again, so he was going to hold back like she was. He sonido away to put distance between them, only to back into Grimmjow; who had an annoyed look on his face. The Arrancar punched him in the gut and dropped him to the ground before holding him on the ground with his foot.

"Just what the fuck is goin' on with him?" as he looked at the petite taichou.

Grimmjow had sensed his reiatsu change as he got closer to his pupil. It felt like a Hollow's reiatsu but at the same time it wasn't; it was hard to explain. Either way though, he was pissed that he had to leave his date to deal with this; yes, he was on an actual date instead of just screwing the Neko. After Shizune told him she knew that he wasn't what he said he was, she convinced him to go out and have an actual date; which he was surprisingly enjoying. Shizune listened as he told her about Hueco Mundo and how he grew from a basic mindless Hollow, which his memories of were fuzzy, into an Adjuchas class Hollow.

She handled everything surprisingly well. Even the part where he joined Aizen to become an Arrancar and he nearly killed several people for kicks; she said that it was in his nature and didn't care. When he heard that she didn't care about what happened and understood that it was the need to survive, he felt something in him he never felt before; it was like something heavy had been removed from his chest. He liked the feeling and the warmth of her body pressed against his as he held her after she said that.

Before Soifon could respond, Ghoul caught his Arrancar mentor off guard and kicked his legs out from under him as he spun to his back. The training he had been doing on his own was finally showing results now that he had someone to fight against; and he had no problem going all out against the panther. He's wanted to fight against the panther Arrancar ever since Tsukune trained with him, and now he could. While he was sure that the Arrancar was stronger than himself, he wanted to gauge where his own strength was. Grimmjow was not expecting that to happen; he was rarely caught off guard like that, and now he couldn't let it happen again.

The petite taichou quickly shunpo over to Tsukune and knocked away the punch that was aimed for Grimmjow's side. She would have to end this fight now if she expected it to stay small enough to keep from drawing attention. She landed a powerful kick to the side of Tsukune's head to see if that would work again. The boy went flying pass Yachiru before he skid across the ground; he got up and still had that angry look in his eyes as he started to walk towards her, but he stopped when he saw Yachiru.

Ghoul saw Yachiru out of the corner of his eye and could see how terrified she was. She was always right there trying to help Tsukune be happy and brightened the day up, but now her eyes showed fear. The tiny fuku-taichou didn't know that Ghoul existed within Tsukune, but right now the look on her face showed she was seeing the dark nature that lay deep within him. The girl was shaking from fear, and that hit something in Ghoul; he wasn't sure how or why, but the child had grown on him and he had a soft spot for her.

"**I'm sorry you had to see this"** he said as he looked to the ground in shame.

He was ashamed that he acted in a way that was similar to a vampire; it disgusted him. He had spent so much time convincing himself that he was better than vampires, yet he drained the Hollow of reiatsu and tried to drink its blood. Sure he was a little mindless at the time because of hunger and thirst, but that was no excuse for acting like that. It was always the state when he began to gain control because Tsukune couldn't fight for shit that he acted like he that; a mindless creature that was a mere abomination. He was better than that.

He closed his eyes and relinquished control over Tsukune's body; there was no reason for him to maintain control. The fighting was done, the silver haired vampire wasn't there, and he had struck fear into the one he carried on his shoulder; he could only make things worse from here. As he began to give up control, he felt arms wrap around him just as his body went limp; the warm feeling was very nice. The reiatsu he felt from the source told him that it was Soifon holding him, and he loved that.

-?-

Fujisaki watched the events that were happening at Yokai Academy through his Shikigami and let out a sigh. He was hoping to be able to force Tsukune's Hollow to take over him and cause a lot of mayhem and destruction; then, for some reason, his Hollow willingly gave control back to Tsukune. This was just another setback, so it wasn't something he would lose sleep over; besides, he knew Tsukune's Hollow wasn't like other Hollow's. Because Tsukune was a ghoul when he was alive, his Hollow's physical strength and reiatsu are much higher; while this would be a good thing for them, it also meant that it would take him longer to become a Vasto Lorde if he became one at all.

"Why are you so interested in that piece of trash?" he heard a voice say to him.

Fujisaki looked back to see a slender woman with short and straight blonde hair, tanned olive colored skin, and wearing a short black dress that had an empire style halter and gladiator style sandals. He never understood why the vampiress thought so little of Tsukune; after all, the former human had caused many issues for them. And now that he was a shinigami, odds were that he'd be an even bigger problem for them.

"Aono-san has beaten the odds ever since he set foot in Yokai Academy;" he explained "he befriended the strongest of Yokai, subdued a Succubus and yuki-ona, stood against the Safety Committee, and, let's not forget, that he stopped our plan to reveal Yokai to the humans. Everything he is involved in seems to favor his side; should we get him on our side…"

"You base your statements on the belief that that pathetic human is a lucky charm;" she said bluntly "the reason that they stopped us was because you placed you trust in that filthy mixed-breed. Had you sent someone more competent and someone that was stronger our plan would not have failed. Aizen-sama should have sent an Arrancar to deal with Yokai Academy if he wished for Yokai to be revealed in such a way."

"He is not just some human" with a smile as he looked at his Shikigami "show her the transmission from earlier that Harribel seemed to take interest in."

The eyeball creature nodded and showed the fight between Tsukune and the Doppelganger they employed. The boy that appeared to be a shinigami to the woman watching traded blows with the weak Yokai and even remained standing after the Doppelganger copied his form. What happened next surprised the vampiress; the shinigami's reiatsu became visible around his zanpakuto and himself. She had slain many shinigami, but never before seen something like that; it was something that she had no comparison for. Then something that she was not expecting at all happened, a Hollow mask became visible in his reiatsu; and it wasn't just any Hollow mask, it resembled Alucard's head. She was never one to believe in coincidences, so that would only mean one thing; the boy's Hollow was going to be Alucard's reincarnation.

"I see this 'pathetic human' has caught your interest all the sudden; Gyokuro-dono" with a slight snicker.

"H-How…?" as her eyes shook.

"As you remember, Aono was a certain someone's walking meal and friend;" he explained "it took some digging but I found out the exact details of what happened" as the Shikigami stopped the image "but it seems that Aono was killed by the Safety Committee, and Akashiya brought him back to life by injecting him with some of her own blood. This turned him into a ghoul, the living equivalent of a Hollow. He continued to be injected with her blood on occasion due to circumstances that would've resulted in his death, thus making himself and his ghoulish nature stronger."

"So that is his name, Aono;" Harribel said as she walked in "Aizen-sama mentioned that there was a boy at Yokai Academy hindering his plans. I must agree with Shuzen-sama," as she looked at the tanned vampire "Aizen-sama should have sent an Arrancar to handle the problem. It would have kept the shinigami occupied while we attacked Karakura Town."

"This boy is a key piece in this war;" as he turned to the two "just as Kurosaki was for the shinigami and humans, Aono is the one that will decide the fate of Yokai Academy and countless humans. He has shown signs of struggling for control against his Hollow; when he loses, we must be there to accept him with open arms" as he walked pass the two powerful women "until then, we must continue to gather information on Yokai Academy and the layout of the Seireitei. Harribel-chan if you would be kind enough to search for an Arrancar that can conceal its reiatsu on a level that can even fool you, or even an Adjuchas class Hollow, it will work perfectly into my plan."

"Hai" as she tore open a Garganta and walked into it.

She was unsure of Fujisaki's plan, but she had to redeem herself to Aizen and would follow the one he raised to do so. She was a Vasto Lorde and couldn't defeat a child; it was a failure. Failure was the reason Aizen cut her down, so it was success that would bring his forgiveness. No matter what it takes, she would have Aizen's forgiveness and be seen as useful to him once again.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

"So what do we do with the mutt?" Grimmjow asked as he looked at the unconscious Werewolf.

They had knocked him out and tied him up before dragging him to their underground canyon. Soifon had taken Tsukune back to his room after she brought him here to place him in the pool. While he had questions for her, he was trying to figure out why he cared about what happened to the Werewolf. They, well… he was waiting on the busty fuku-taichou to show up to help question the wolf; Yachiru was still processing what happened and trying to make sense of it. Hell, even he was trying to figure out what happened to the shinigami in training.

Aono was acting like a Hollow when he attacked him; which was weird considering the boy preferred to fight with skill. Even Kurosaki fought like a shinigami when he used his hollowfication; given he fought more instinctual, but he still fought like a shinigami. From what he saw, Aono was using more brute strength than skill when he fought. Things weren't adding up and he didn't like it.

"If you please, I can use him for an experiment" Nemu said from nowhere.

"What the fuck? Where'd you come from?" Grimmjow asked as he jumped.

"I have been waiting here for an hour," as she looked around "I must have fallen asleep while waiting for Aono-san to show up. I hope he forgives me for my lack of discipline" as she looked to the exit.

Grimmjow just looked at the fuku-taichou with a look that questioned if she was being serious with her comment. He had heard some stories about what the painted taichou would do if she made even the slightest mistake. The painted freak-show would beat her so hard she'd have to go to the Fourth Division's Clinic for a day; even he wasn't that harsh. The only one he's heard of being that brutal was Szayel; the pink haired Arrancar often destroyed his created Fraccion without hesitation.

"Aono ain't the type to get pissed about somethin' as little as that;" as he shrugged his shoulders "so ya shouldn't worry about it."

"I knew it was Tsukune!" the werewolf shouted as he sat up.

Grimmjow, Nemu and Yachiru all looked at the humanoid wolf with a surprised look. This guy knew who the shinigami in training really was and tried to get Tsukune to reveal his true identity. If he only wanted to reveal Tsukune's identity, why did he try to beat it out of him? There had to be another reason for it.

"I shall get my equipment to begin the experiment" Nemu said bluntly as she walked behind a boulder and rolled a cart out from behind it.

The Werewolf looked at the cart that was loaded with various surgical equipment and other miscellaneous objects and began to sweat. This chick was seriously going to cut into him without any hesitation at all; it was his worst nightmare. Or at least one of them; as long as she didn't cut off anything important to him it wouldn't be his worst, but it's still up there. His body began to shake as the woman lifted a large bone saw and looked at him.

"I should cut off your hair so this will be easier for me" as she put the bone saw down and looked for her scissors.

"NO!" he cried "IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET MY HAIR THIS LONG, DON'T!"

"I can get ya outa this" Grimmjow said with a smirk "all ya have ta do is tell me what ya know about Aono."

The Werewolf quickly spilt his guts to the Arrancar. Everything from when he first had dealings with the human to the last time he saw him before he died. Everything that was said impressed Grimmjow while causing him disbelief that a human would be able to fight against Yokai and not just survive, but win.

"How much pussy did he get?" Grimmjow asked with a straight face.

"I don't think he ever got laid" as he stopped to think about it.

"I'm gonna go have a chat with Aono" as he walked towards the exit.

Now he was no longer just out of range to question Aono's sexuality. He was surrounded by hot chicks that wanted to fuck him and he didn't give them what they wanted; this was going to be a very long talk. Now, not only was he going to question his pupil's sexuality, but he wasn't going to stop questioning it until he knows for a fact that he fucked a chick; repeatedly.

"Aren't you going to let me go?"

He expected the blue haired man to cut him free so he could run like hell from this place. Yet he was being left behind like he was already dead.

"His deal has no affect on my experiment" Nemu said as she flipped the large wolf over and grabbed a handful of hair "please hold still so I don't cut your skin before the experiment."

"No, get away from me!" he shouted as he squirmed in an attempt to get free "I like my hair; I don't want to be bald!"

"Ginnei?" he heard a familiar voice say.

He looked to see Rangiku starring at him with a surprised look; which was understandable since he was still in his true form. He himself was also surprise to see that she wasn't wearing the school uniform, but rather a black kimono with a pink sash tied around her waist and a katana across the small of her back. Her scent was also stronger, which meant the odd scent that the group she was with was easier to notice.

"Help me…" with tears flowing from his eyes as the crazy woman on top of him cut his hair away.

"Please stop squirming," Nemu said "otherwise the cuts won't be straight and will heal improperly" as she reached for a scalpel.

Gin squirmed even more in an attempt to get the crazy lady off him. It was bad enough that the chick had cut his hair off, now she was going to cut him up. There was no way he was going to let that happen; he had to get free and get away from her. Hiding behind his busty friend should be a good start before running like hell to the exit and escaping into the cloudless, quarter moon night.

"Puppy shouldn't have attacked Chocolate-Hair" Yachiru pouted as she watched with a smile.

"I'm not a puppy!" Gin shouted.

"Nemu-chan" Rangiku said "could you leave him alone?"

Nemu looked at her fellow fuku-taichou and saw a look that showed she was concerned about the Werewolf she was about to experiment on. The black haired fuku-taichou got off the Werewolf and started digging through her equipment for two items. One was a standard piece of equipment that could erase memories called the Kikanshinki; she has been working on making it so that it can erase memories that happened more than ten minutes before it was used, and now she could test it. The second was something that Madarame has been requesting for a long time; a serum that grows hair in target areas even if the subject is completely bald. Currently she has it so that it accelerates the rate of growth; she wasn't sure about how fast, but she knew it was at least fast enough to return all of the Werewolf's hair by morning.

"Thank you" Gin said with a smile before he felt something pierce his skin "OW! What the…"

Before he could finish he was blasted with a pink smoke from something that looked like a lighter and he passed out. He woke up in his bed the next morning and walked to the bathroom. He scratched his head trying to figure out what happened the night before; for some reason he couldn't remember anything after having dinner with the extremely busty succubus. His eyes were unfocused as he relieved himself in the bathroom and flushed the toilet. As he washed his hands his eyes slowly began to focus; that's when something in the mirror caught his eyes.

"WHY THE HELL IS MY HAIR PURPLE?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.


	17. Chapter 17

Bloodriver looked at the pale skinned boy, wanting to remind him what happens when he takes over Tsukune without her wielder allowing it. There were a few things stopping her from doing so though. First, what Ghoul said was true; just like when he was alive, if their shared body cannot handle the physical stress from a fight, Ghoul will take over and ensure their body's survival. It became Tsukune's defense mechanism shortly after he was injected with her daughter's blood; not to mention her own blood. That was just one more reason she was willing to go to great lengths to protect her wielder; they had a blood connection. It might not be by her giving birth to Tsukune, but he has her blood running through his veins none-the-less.

Second was the fact that he had not harmed anyone other than the Hollow that he attacked; the Werewolf could easily walk off the damage he took from Ghoul and probably was going to be dealt with by the shinigami that were accompanying Tsukune. While Ghoul might have been focused on fighting the Werewolf that was once his friend, she knew that a part of him was protecting Yachiru. She was aware of his secondary plans to go after Moka again, but she was going to intervene after the boy got the shared body at a stable state.

The third, he was showing slight regret for what happened. While she was unsure if that was because of how he acted or if it was because of who saw him act like that. She was aware that Ghoul had developed feelings that held the tiny fuku-taichou as a sister in his eyes, but he still acted like a Hollow without thinking about who was around. Just looking at him, she could see that he was reflecting on his actions and therefore she had no reason to teach him a lesson; simply because he was learning it on his own. She walked closer to the boy; she could tell he needed comforting, and since she was the only one here that was able she felt it necessary.

"**I don't want yer sympathy"** Ghoul said as he sensed her nearby.

"I am not showing sympathy to you" as she stood behind him "I merely wish to comfort you and offer guidance to allow you to feel better;" as she wrapped her arms around him and held him gently "you acknowledge your fault and feel sorrow for what happened. This makes you far more than a mere Hollow; it shows that there is still humanity in you…"

"**Shut-up"** Ghoul spat as he pushed her off **"there's nothing human about me anymore; that bitch made sure of it. She turned me into a monster, even by Yokai definition. I don't know why I stopped, but it is **_**not**_** because I have humanity left in me. Were that the reason, then I would've shed the gigai we are in and slain the Adjuchas that…"**

"It was not an Adjuchas," the Shinso stated "the Hollow was but a lesser Hollow that was nearly ready to begin preparation to turn into a Gillian."

"**Whatever; my point is that there is no humanity left in me! What does it even mean to have humanity? To be human?"**

Bloodriver frozen when she heard the questions; they were ones that she had no answer to. The word 'inhuman' and the phrase 'oh the humanity' were often used, but never did those that said them think about what they meant. She never used the word or phrase, but she was never asked what it meant to be human or have humanity.

"I do not know the answer to those questions" she said as she looked to the ground and closed her eyes.

"**Should've expected as much;"** as he walked off **"yer a vampire, so of course ya wouldn't know."**

-Nemu-

The fuku-taichou lay next to Tsukune and was beginning to wake up from the night's sleep she got. She had gotten into his room the same way she did the first time she came to Yokai Academy, the window. After she got in she slipped between the covers with Tsukune and snuggled close to him before she drifted to sleep. It was the first time she ever slept next to anyone; she liked the feeling of someone being there. Tsukune rolled over and she felt an arm find its way around her midriff. She wasn't sure if he was still asleep or not, but she wasn't too concerned about it; she was enjoying being held.

While she was in the Seireitei, she always slept alone; when she could sleep. Her father was a slave driver and she would often work for nearly seventy hours straight before she could take a break. This would cause bags to form under most people's eyes, but her father had made her so that those wouldn't form; that didn't mean she never felt the effects of being tired. Her abilities declined when she is tired, just like everyone else, but her father still worked her to the bone and expected everything to be of the highest quality of work.

"Aono-san" she said in an attempt to wake him up "Aono-san."

Tsukune only groaned as he pulled her closer to him. He didn't want to wake up for another few hours, his body ached and he had a bad taste in his mouth. Wait, he was in bed; the last thing he remembered was… the Werewolf that attacked him. His eyes shot open as he remembered that the Werewolf knew who he really was; that was bad, he needed to let Soifon know about this and…

"Aono-san" he heard right in front of him.

Tsukune looked at the hair that blocked his sight of his room and turned red with embarrassment. He knew who it was because only one person called him 'Aono-san'; it was Nemu.

"N-N-N-Nemu-chan…" he stuttered "when did you…" he looked at the clock on his night stand "I'M LATE FOR HOMEROOM!"

The last time he overslept, Yachiru woke him up; he wondered why she didn't this time as he quickly got dressed. Without thinking, he took off his boxers and reached for a clean pair in his dresser. As he pulled the clean pair out, he saw Nemu in the mirror and immediately covered himself up while turning red with embarrassment.

"I arrived yesterday around five in the evening;" she said in her usual tone "I fell asleep in the underground training area that Urahara-sama constructed for the mission."

"Could… you please turn around?" Tsukune asked, still red with embarrassment.

"It is only flesh," she said bluntly "there is no reason for you to be embarrassed. I have seen several penises while doing experiments with Mayuri-sama; only yours is larger than the ones I have seen before." Tsukune didn't reply and was still red in the face. "As you wish" before she turned around.

Tsukune quickly got dressed as Nemu asked him for the details of her deployment here. As soon as he filled her in on what he had in mind he left to go to his homeroom class. Once the door closed, Nemu pulled out some paper and began drawing the blueprints for what Tsukune asked for; something like this had never been done before, but she felt that Tsukune had faith in her abilities. The hardest part would be to make it so that the blade that would hold his zanpakuto could have the same abilities as it normally does.

-Grimmjow-

The panther was trying to figure out what happened to Aono last night to make him act like he did. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear Aono was fighting like a Hollow; the only thing that was keeping him from actually believing that was the skill that Aono used. He fought with practical skills rather than just instinct like normal Hollows. It was driving him nuts trying to figure out the answer; what made it worse was the fact that Soifon was refusing to answer his questions about it. That meant she definitely knew what was up with their shared pupil and was protecting him. And if she was protecting him, that meant she cared about him; which means his odds of winning his bet against Yoruichi just went from hands down to fifty-fifty.

"This is such bullshit" he groaned as he waited for his class to enter the gym and be ready to go.

-Ichigo-

The Substitute Shinigami slashed through a Hollow that was only one of several hundred that were attacking Las Noches. For some reason they were extremely organized and far more motivated to seize control of the capital of Hueco Mundo. Someone had to be rallying all these Hollows up and using them to attack the fortress that Aizen once ruled in. At the rate that the attacks were coming, it was only a matter of time before whomever was leading the attacks was successful. He looked over and saw Nel slice through a Hollow; he could see that she was focused on the fight that almost everyone in Las Noches was in. This was the first time a wave this large had attacked them, so everyone was fighting against it.

"Getsuga Tensho" he shouted as he sent a blue blade through numerous Hollows.

As soon as he launched his attack, his dad followed suit; only his was much larger and took out at least twice as many. The former taichou shunpo through a group that tried to assault him; when he reappeared, the Hollows vaporized with a howl. Ichigo couldn't help but to wonder how strong he would be if his dad had actually told him that he was a shinigami, and taken the time to train him. He couldn't hold any resentment towards his dad for keeping the secret for the past sixteen years.

A blast of fire broke his line of thought; when he looked towards the source he saw Tatsuki wearing a red battle suit of some kind. The night before she had told him about when she was asked by Urahara to help protect the town in his absence. The suit she was currently wearing was one of the ones that the hat wearing man made for his friends. His former sparring partner easily defeated the group of Hollows that surrounded her; he knew her hand-to-hand skills were good, but never thought she'd be able to take on so many Hollows and win.

Further away than the black belt was Menoly and Loly back to back while fighting the fifty or so Hollows that had managed to surround them. Their team work was surprisingly good; he didn't know how long they've been fighting alongside each other, but it had to be a long time. Loly sliced through one Hollow's arm with her tiny zanpakuto and Menoly followed up with a kick to the same Hollow's mask, which sent it flying into three others. The duo then blasted two Ceros in either direction and wiped out fifteen of their attackers.

To his other side was Nel; lazily taking on the lesser Hollows that were dumb enough to attack her. Her reiatsu alone should've been enough to tell them she wasn't someone to attack. The busty Arrancar hadn't even drawn her zanpakuto and was easily swatting her opponents away like flies; he wouldn't expect anything else from the former Teresa Espada. She kicked one Hollow and completely destroyed its mask as it smashed into another, and then she followed up by punching a third.

"**Annoying pest!"** he heard a Hollow say to Tatsuki before punching her with its massive, claw like arm.

The hit sent the black belt to the ground; only to look up and see a red sphere forming in the Hollow's small hand. Her suit wasn't designed to give her speed, only amplify her natural strength; she wouldn't be able to dodge the attack in time. Her eyes shook as the red sphere turned into a column that was speeding towards her; she could only watch her entire life flash before her eyes as she waited for what was surely going to be her death.

At the very last second, a golden barrier appeared in front of her and deflected the Cero into the cloudless night sky. The Hollow looked at the triangle shaped barrier with surprise as he wondered where it came from; an orange haired girl caught his eyes. The girl was wearing a similar outfit as the green haired Arrancar that was making his comrades look like jokes. From what he heard from the blonde Arrancar that recruited him, the girl was Inoue Orihime; an important piece of the plan.

"**You're coming with me bitch"** he said with an evil smile as he charged her.

The busty healer didn't have time to recall Santen Kisshun and send it back out before the massive Hollow was almost on top of her. She froze with fear as the large claws were nearly close enough to grab her. Just before the claws were able to wrap around her, she saw a black figure standing in front of her; Ichigo had used shunpo to get in front of her, but that wasn't all he did. His normal shinigami uniform was missing, but instead he was wearing his black cloak. The claws had barely missed his sides, arm and face.

Ichigo didn't say a word as he pushed the Hollow backwards and only glared at it. He was finally connecting the dots about Orihime, the reasons she always helped him, followed him to the Seireitei, the blushing and stuttering, and he was going to be damned if he let anything happen to her. He had gotten much closer to the orange haired girl and he was feeling like maybe they could be more than friends; his Hollow was right when he said that Ichigo was blind to the girl's feelings, but he was finally seeing them. That is why he revealed his bankai for the first time since he fought Aizen; he had regained enough reiatsu a few days ago, and was saving it for a large fight, but Orihime was too important to him.

"**WHY IS IT THAT EVERYTIME I ATTACK SOMEONE"** the Hollow shouted with anger **"SOME PUNK PURE BRED STOPS ME!"**

"I don't know what you're going on about," as he raised Zangetsu "but I don't care" just before he launched a Getsuga Tensho.

Midou jumped up into the air and dodged the incoming attack, only to see the orange haired shinigami over him with another attack already charged up. He could see that the 'pure bred' was toying with him and using him as an intimidation factor to warn the rest of the Hollows what would happen if they attacked the girl. He quickly charged up a cero and shot it at the black reiatsu that had just been launched at him. When the red and black attacks met, a small explosion went off leaving a large cloud of smoke.

Midou looked at his arm and saw he ripped the gash in it open. The wound that Aono had given him was taking too long to heal; normally it would've healed in a few days, but it had been over two weeks and it still annoyed him. The damn thing wouldn't stay closed and what made it worse was the fact that he could still feel his reiatsu in the wound. It was a painful reminder of what happened not only two weeks ago, but less than one year ago; how badly he had beaten him and nearly killed him before turning to that silver haired pure bred.

Ichigo looked at the bleeding arm of the Hollow and knew that it wasn't from him; the wound was old. A wound that was old was unusual on a Hollow because of how fast they heal; normally after a few days any wound is completely healed. Then he noticed it, the reiatsu that was deep in the cut.

"You fought Tsukune" he said simply.

Midou only glared at the shinigami before vanishing in a Garganta that he quickly ripped open. If the shinigami knew Aono, there was no way he'd be able to win the fight. The smartest thing to do was to run so he could report this to the blonde Arrancar that pissed him off.

Ichigo looked at the remaining Hollow and flared his reiatsu as the only warning he was going to give, and just as expected they ran off into the desert with their tails between their legs. While his reiatsu wasn't what it was when he invaded Las Noches, it was still about taichou level; lower level taichou but taichou nonetheless. Regardless though, it was enough to scare off the Hollows that were attacking; a former Espada, a former taichou, several Numeros, and the one that defeated Aizen should be enough to scare away any Hollow that tries to attack.

He used Zangetsu to support him as his body began to fill with pain. It was just like when he finished fighting Byakuya; now that he was done fighting, he could feel that several bones had fractured because of his reiatsu. His body couldn't handle his own bankai again just yet; the pain was worth it though, Orihime was safe and that's all he cared about.

"Kurosaki-kun…" he heard Orihime say with concern.

He looked over his shoulder to see the usual worried look on her face that she had when he was injured. The look in the back of her eyes that showed she was praying he would be alright, and that he would be able to go home with her. How he never noticed the look in her eyes before was something he would probably never understand. At least he noticed it now, and that's all that mattered.

"This is nothing;" he said to reassure her while looking her in the eyes "you know how much I can endure," with a smile "and I asked you to call me Ichigo."

Orihime only blushed at the thought of calling him by first name; she had never called anyone but her brother by first name before. Of course it would only make since for him to ask her that after everything they've been through. Ever since her brother had died, Ichigo had been there; from when his father helped load Sora onto the ambulance to go to a large hospital to when he died. The supposed delinquent held her hand the entire way to the hospital and when the doctors told her Sora didn't make it, he let her cry into his shoulder.

She never would've imagined that that was only the start of their future friendship. She meant him again towards the end of middle school through Tatsuki; which is when she learned his name and watched him fight a group of guys that tried to attack the now black belt. When the fight was done, Tatsuki fussed at him about interfering and how she could've handled it; if Tatsuki hadn't seen the tooth that had been knocked out of Ichigo's mouth she wouldn't have gone off. Ichigo, being Ichigo, said it was no big deal and that the tooth was only a baby tooth and already loose.

"Could you please heal me; Orihime?" he asked gently snapping her out of her daydream.

"Hai" with an even larger blush.

She liked the way he said her name; the way it sounded made her warm and fuzzy on the inside.

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire watched as the two gym instructors argued about something; her safest bet was that it had something to do with Eiyu since she heard his name come up a few times. There had to have been more that happened to him yesterday since the panther demon mentioned a Werewolf and a Hollow, whatever that was; her suspicion only increased when she saw Eiyu walk out of the locker room looking exhausted. The tiny pink haired girl didn't hop onto his shoulder immediately like she normally did; she kept some distance between him and her for some reason.

Another thing that was odd about today was that Kokoa seemed to be even angrier at Eiyu for some reason. Before she could even walk towards the Fraccion, her little sister blindsided him with a Morningstar and sent him into the bleachers. Normally that wouldn't surprise her, but today the hit had knocked Eiyu out completely. That settled it; she knew something happened yesterday to make him this exhausted, the only question was what? She looked towards the small girl that normally uses Eiyu to get around and immediately knew how she was going to get her answers.

"Hello there" she said to the fairy as she kneeled down to the girl's level.

"Hey Red-chan" Yachiru said back.

"Red-chan?"

"Your eyes are a pretty red," Yachiru explained "like blood; Ken-chan would like them."

"Oh;" Moka knew her eyes were red, but never thought they would be the source of a nickname "do you know what happened to Eiyu yesterday?"

"Well…" as she looked up and thought about it "first he went to fight someone and didn't take me with him, then the creepy guy with the hood wanted to see us, after that he disappeared again with Snaggletooth-chan, then we went to Karate Club, and then Puppy attacked him…" remembering what happened during the fight.

"Puppy?"

"He had short black hair that was held up by a hair band, and a necklace with a dog head on it."

"Gin attacked him" with a surprised look as she looked back towards Eiyu "I wonder why he'd do that" putting her finger on her chin as she thought about it.

She never would've thought that Gin, of all people, would attack the Fraccion. Then again, he had been suspicious of Eiyu since he first showed up at the academy as well. She remembered he said something about Eiyu's scent, but she didn't pay much attention to the Werewolf.

"After Puppy started attacking him," Yachiru said with a scared tone "Chocolate-Hair started acting different. He started to become meaner as he fought back, the look in his eyes showed he only wanted to kill; it's not like him. Then a Hollow showed up, and Chocolate-Hair ripped its arms and wings off."

Moka's eyes showed how surprised she was at that statement. The last time she saw Eiyu fight he said that he only fought to protect others, but if he was willing to fight to kill it could mean that it was a defense that his species had; or it could mean that he was really Tsukune and Ghoul could still take control like he could when he was alive. She would have to talk to Gin to get the details of what really happened; the look on the girl's face showed she didn't like what she saw when this happened.

"You don't have to continue," she said as she rubbed Yachiru's head "I'll just ask Gin what happened. And I'm sure that he was more focused on protecting you than just fighting to kill."

Yachiru didn't answer as she looked to the ground and thought about what happened. It was when Chocolate-Hair looked at her that he stopped, apologizing for making her see him like that and then passing out. Maybe he was more focused on protecting her than just fighting Puppy and the Hollow that attacked them. That made it better for her to accept because Chocolate-Hair was still being himself, but in a different way; she was still curious about why his voice sounded so weird when he spoke though.

"Why aren't you doing your warm-up exercises?" Grimmjow shouted at the class as he finally got sick of arguing with Soifon.

The Shinigami and Arrancar argued about what happened to Aono yesterday. Grimmjow had never seen him act like he did before and his reiatsu was a bigger mystery than the boy himself. It felt like a Hollow's reiatsu, but at the same time it was similar to the two vampires that were currently in the gym. What made it worse was the fact that Soifon knew what was going on, but refused to say anything about it. If Aono had a Hollow side to him, that would make him a Visored and easier to train since he'd know what he's working with.

-Later-

Moka walked through the crowd of students looking for Gin to get some answers, but for some reason he hadn't been seen around campus all day. Normally she wouldn't care, but after everything she learned for Yachiru she felt there was a connection between Gin's absence and 'Eiyu's' condition. Something happened to the perverted Werewolf and Eiyu's group was responsible somehow.

"Excuse me" she said to the blonde that she had seen Gin hanging out with lately "you're Matsumoto Rangiku; correct?"

"Yup" Rangiku said with a smile.

"Do you know where Gin is; I have something I wish to ask him."

The fuku-taichou immediately came up with a lie to tell the vampire. If the vampire knew what really happened, it could cause all of their identities to be blown; and not just Tsukune's.

"I haven't seen Ginnei around all day;" with a slight pout "but we did drink a lot last night. So he's probably hung-over; he can't drink much" with a sigh; Moka raised an eyebrow at this "What? There's nothing like warm sake to help get over the boredom of homework" with a smile.

"I'll go by his room and see if he's there;" as she walked away.

Rangiku's eyes narrowed as she felt that the vampire was beginning to see connections between the group that was sent here. They tried to maintain the appearance of normal students, but what students go to their sensei for combat training. Tsukune had told her that it was the vampire that he accidentally revealed himself to when he was sent here on recon with Soifon; so it was natural to assume that she didn't believe their alias. She quickly went to look for Tsukune to talk to him about what happened and try to see what the vampire might be looking into. When she found the boy, he was passed out with four dirty plates in front of him.

"Eiyu" she said as she shook him gently "Eiyu."

"Chocolate-Hair!" Yachiru nearly shouted into the boy's ear as she pulled his hair.

"Ow" he cried out as his body tensed up "Yachiru-chan; what was that for?"

"Biggest Boobies wants to talk to you" as she pointed at her fellow fuku-taichou.

"Rangiku-chan" he said with a slight blush because of Yachiru's nickname for her "what's up?"

"Akashiya Moka is looking into something about you that involves Ginnei;" she said "what happened between you two yesterday?"

Tsukune got several flashes of memory at once when he heard the Werewolf's name. The first one he had seen already; it was of the Vampire and Werewolf fighting against each other. The second one was new; it showed him and the Werewolf looking into a list of names, girls by the look of the names. As the memory went on, it showed that he was charging towards what looked like Medusa to save a pink haired vampire. The final one was of the boy putting newspapers in a box with a look of defeat on his face.

"Eiyu!" Rangiku said in a firm tone, snapping him away from the visions.

"He attacked me on my way back from Karate Club;" he said as he rubbed his temples "I almost lost, but Soifon-chan and Grimmjow-san showed up and stopped the fight."

Yachiru immediately heard how he called the taichou of the Second Division and smiled like she was planning something. It wasn't everyday she got a plan that might actually work, but today she did. The small fuku-taichou noticed that she wasn't the only one that caught how her transportation called his taichou; Rangiku also had a slight smile on her face.

"Ginnei attacked you?" while hiding her smile "what all happened? You didn't hurt him too bad did you…"

"I CAN'T REMEMBER!" Tsukune snapped at her as he stood up "I had a long day. First Hiyori shows up and attacks me, then that spider attacks us, I fought a Doppelganger, then Hiyori, I trained with Karate Club and then he attacked me! I still don't know why…" he cut himself off from saying anything else as he grabbed his bag "never-mind; I'm going to my room" before he disappeared with a static like boom.

Rangiku and Yachiru just stood there with wide eyes at what just happened. Yachiru had seen him in situations that normally would cause him to get stressed out like this, but she had never seen him actually snap. It was scarier than Ken-chan when Ichii returned from defeating Aizen; the taichou chased the Substitute Shinigami all through the Seireitei, cutting almost everything in his path. She never would've imagined that he would've snapped like that. Rangiku was also at a loss for words; the only one that ever yelled at her like that was her taichou, but that was for good reasons.

Eiyu appeared outside of his bedroom and opened the door; he was hoping to finally be alone, but that was lost when he saw Nemu at his desk working on something. He set his bag down by the closet and just lay in his bed.

"Is everything alright Aono-san?" Nemu asked as she looked at him.

"I just want to sleep" as he pulled the covers over him.

"Hai" as she went back to work.

Tsukune closed his eyes and tried his hardest to pass out, but his body wasn't letting him. The adrenaline rush he had after snapping like he did was keeping him awake. It's not like he tried to shout at Rangiku; it just happened. His eyes opened and he was in his mindscape; Bloodriver standing in front of him with a worried, but serious, look on her face.

"You must learn to control your emotions;" she said "namely your anger. It will cause you to turn a deaf ear to the voices that matter, and only hear a voice that will destroy you."

"You mean Ghoul" as he looked to the ground.

"Hai;" as she walked closer to her wielder "and the voices that matter being Rangiku, Yachiru, Grimmjow, myself, and, above all, Soifon. I am aware of your feelings towards her, but you are afraid she might view you as if you are Ghoul and that is the reason you are trying to convince yourself that the feelings are false. Should you lose yourself in anger, there is a chance that she might start viewing you as if you are Ghoul."

"I'm tired of having to lie to everyone;" as he hugged his zanpakuto "lying to Moka-san, Kurumu-chan, Mizore-chan and Yukari-chan about who I am. Lying to Rangiku-chan, Yachiru-chan, Ruby-chan and Grimmjow-san about my abilities and why I have them. And lying to Soifon-chan that I have control of Ghoul when you're the one that is keeping him from taking over;" tears began to roll down his face "I'm afraid of what he'll do if he ever takes over me again."

The Shinso rubbed his head in an attempt to comfort the boy. She knew that this fear would pass eventually, but it would take time and someone to stand beside him; just like when he was alive. It was her daughter that helped him find the strength to stay at Yokai Academy; so it would have to be someone that he had strong feelings for to help him keep his sanity this time.

"I am unsure if my words will help, but I have faith in you that you will become strong enough to suppress Ghoul on your own and when that happens, you might have the strength to tell your friends the truth about yourself;" she looked down at Tsukune and saw he finally fell asleep "the stress you are experiencing is not healthy for your body" with a worried tone "you must find someone to consort other than myself with your problems."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

"This meeting is officially called to order" Yachiru said in a semiserious voice "Madam Vice-president, how are our funds looking?"

"We are currently still in budget;" Nanao said as she looked at the papers "however, I still suggest we do another fundraiser just to be on the safe side."

Everyone in the Shinigami Women's Association nodded in agreement; especially since Yachiru had spent almost all of their funding last year on candy. The only question was what could they do for a fundraiser? No one really had an answer for that one; it was one of those things that was hit and miss, either it worked or it failed.

"We could do more of the Photo Collection;" Nemu suggested remembering how much that brought in "only expanding it from just our taichou to allies including Kurosaki-san and his allies, Odelschwanck-san and Jagerjaquez-san, and other shinigami that are popular."

The verdict was unanimous; they would expand the Photo Collection, with the occasional rare photo. The rare photos would be of things like Soifon with her bankai, Grimmjow in his Resurreccion, Ichigo with his Hollowfication; things that were actually rare to see in a fight. They were in the middle of discussing what else they could include in the Collection when a blast of wind blew at them followed by Grimmjow's voice.

"GET UP AONO!" the Arrancar shouted "YOU EXPECT TO JOIN THE SAFETY COMMITTEE FIGHTING LIKE THAT?"

"I thought I told him to hold off on training him until we finished our meeting" Soifon growled as a vein in her forehead pulsed.

"Aono" Rukia asked "as in Aono Tsukune? The boy that fought against Kurotsuchi-taichou?"

Soifon nodded as a boulder was crushed nearby.

"IF YOU EXPECT ME TO EVEN DRAW MY ZANPAKUTO YOU BETTER RELEASE THAT SHIKAI OF YOURS!"

"And he has Shikai?" almost all the members asked at once.

"Hai;" Nemu said "he released it when fighting Mayuri-sama. I am still unsure of what its abilities are, but judging by the design it is a combat oriented zanpakuto."

Everyone just looked at Nemu waiting for her to tell them what Tsukune's Shikai looked like, but she didn't. That was the one down sides to Nemu, she never knew when to continue her comments or explain a conclusion. She would just leave them with a cliff hanger.

"I must admit" Yoruichi said as she appeared on a rock in her cat form "I am curious about what it looks like as well. Do share."

"The hilt was solid black with a rounded end to it;" Nemu explained "the guard looked as if it were part of the hilt and curved upwards with what resembled a fang sticking out towards the hilt. The blade was blood red and a little wide at the hilt before it narrowed out towards the middle and slowly got larger till it came to the end in a point. There were numerous saw like teeth along the edges of the two sided blade."

The entire group was jaw dropped, even Retsu was surprised at the information she just heard. She remembered that the boy came into her Clinic only a few weeks ago after Soifon saved him; yet he has Shikai already. That had to be a record since it normally took many years to gain Shikai.

"There is more;" Nemu said "On his shins were white greaves that had spikes on them. The shape was simple but the designs on them weren't, from what I saw, they looked to be ruins of unknown origins. His left hand was covered by a gauntlet that was white with gold edging at each of the joints. I assume that is why Yamamoto-sama gave him the alias Eiyu, and because he was willing to stand against Mayuri-sama, he was given the surname Kenpachi."

"That would make since," Momo said "only someone that was as crazy as Kenpachi-taichou would fight Kurotsuchi-taichou."

Nemu only sighed at the thought of the Quincy being as battle driven as the taichou of the Eleventh Division. She remembered how gently he had handled her after he defeated Mayuri when he invaded the Seireitei with Ichigo. The sincere look in his eyes as he helped her up against the wall; it was a look that was missing when her father mentioned Uryu's grandfather. The look in his eyes then was only anger and rage that promised death. If he were to have had a look in his eyes that showed he enjoyed fighting, she doubted she would've taken any interest in him.

"Hello ladies" Grimmjow said with a smirk.

"Do you not see that we are having a meeting Jagerjaquez?" Soifon said in disgust.

"Yea, I see that; I'm just waitin' on Aono to pull himself out of the rock I put him in" as he pointed back with his thumb.

"Never turn your back to an opponent" Soifon warned.

He heard a static like boom behind him, and quickly turned; drawing his zanpakuto as he turned. Metal scrapped against metal as Tsukune pushed against his mentor's blade trying to force him to lose his footing. Only the Arrancar wasn't budging at all; only grinning sadistically.

"Now I'm gonna force ya to use Shikai" with a snicker as he grabbed Tsukune and threw him back in the direction he came from.

"It's no wonder he fights like an Arrancar;" Soifon said shaking her head "with how Jagerjaquez is training him I'm surprised he can beat anyone."

"Aw," Yoruichi teased "is my Bee concerned about someone's wellbeing?"

"He is my subordinate and still in the Shinigami Academy" as she turned red "as his taichou it is my duty to make sure he is trained properly;" while she looked away from the group "otherwise we would have another Kurosaki running around."

"Look out!" she heard Tsukune shouting, almost as if he was getting closer.

She looked towards the voice and was greeted by Tsukune's face to her own. Her eyes widened as their eyes met the second before Tsukune smashed into her. Tsukune's eyes showed fear, but she wasn't sure why that was; it's not like he threw himself towards her. It was also in that split second that she felt his lips against hers; they were soft, a little bloodied, but soft. The force behind the contact made it feel like her lips were going to be bruised afterwards. She wasn't sure if it was that contact that made everything seem to slow down, or if it was the fact that she was about to get hit with enough force to get knocked out with. Tsukune could see the surprise in Soifon's eyes as he got close enough to where he was going to hit her no matter what. He hit her with enough force to bruise anyone, but that wasn't what caught him off guard. It was the feel of her lips against his; her lips felt firm against his, and he liked it. He mentally swore at how he ended up getting thrown towards his taichou like this; he completely forgot what Soifon had taught him about using an opponent's blind spot against them.

Tsukune carried Soifon along with him as he continued to fly through the air and flip head over heels into a boulder; with Soifon between him and the boulder. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud and was almost knocked out from the impact; completely knocked out when an unconscious Soifon fell on top of him. It would've been fine if it was her body landing on his head, but no; it was her body landing on his entire body, only she landed on his stomach with her stomach and facing the other way.

Grimmjow burst into a roar of laughter at the sight; Tsukune and Soifon in a sixty nine position with her taichou haori draped just right so everyone could see Tsukune's face in her crouch area. He fell on the ground holding his gut while trying to make a crack, but failing miserably because of his laughter. Even Yoruichi was laughing so hard she fell off the rock she was perched on; all the members of the Shinigami Women's Association were blushing wildly at the sight.

"To think…" Grimmjow finally managed to say "that's the closest he's ever going to get to gettin' any pussy!"

"There is a child present" Retsu warned him in a serious tone as she glared at him "it would be wise if you were not so vulgar around her."

"Whatever," still laughing "someone give me a camera; I gotta get a picture of this."

Nemu began digging through her bag of miscellaneous items that she carried with her.

"DON'T DO IT NEMU!" Kiyone, Isane, Rukia and Momo shouted all at the same time.


	18. Chapter 18

I will be putting this story on hold for a while because of college and work. But don't worry, I will continue to work on it just not as often. I also managed to come up with a Shinigami Cup: Golden.  
Demon.

Xxxxxxxx

Tsukune stretched his arms as he walked out of the locker room ready to get the day over with. He trained with Grimmjow the night before and ended up getting thrown to Soifon after an attack. The taichou was nowhere to be seen when he finally woke up, which was this morning before breakfast. Luckily he had time to get back to his room before going to eat.

He wasn't in the mood to do much of anything today. Even after sleeping most of yesterday and eating a lot for lunch and dinner he still felt tired and hungry. The only thing that got him to get out of the underground training area was Bloodriver, and that took a long conversation. She had reminded him about their conversation yesterday after he went back to his room and that he needed to talk to Soifon about what's going on with him.

Deep down he didn't want to let Soifon know about his problem controlling Ghoul; she had already said that she had faith that he can control his darker-self. If he told her that it was his zanpakuto that was keeping Ghoul in check, then, well, he wasn't sure what she'd think. He lifted his hand and grabbed the incoming attack that was in mid-swing.

"I'm not in the mood to put up with you attacking me;" as he tossed Kokoa to the ground.

The red haired vampire hit the ground with an 'oomph' as the person she attacked continued to walk away from her. She was surprised that he caught her attack while she was still swinging it; everyday she had attacked him, he couldn't dodge it. Or could he have always dodged it but chose not too; if that were the case, why? Why would he let her hit him like she did? She only growled as she picked herself up off the ground, unable to come up with an answer to the question she asked herself.

She watched the Fraccion continue to stretch his muscles as he leaned on the wall to support himself. While he caught her Morningstar like it was nothing, he was still stretching like he was sore; maybe the panther demon was putting him through a more intense workout. She remembered when her Onee-sama started fighting her like an equal that she was sore for a few days before she could fight at a hundred percent again. Just as she reached for Kyo to attack the Fraccion again, she saw her Onee-sama approach him; a smile grew on her face, she just knew that the boy was going to get his ass kicked now.

"Eiyu" Moka said in a firm voice that showed she was serious.

"Hai" with a sigh as he began to stretch his legs.

He didn't feel like putting up with anyone today. It was like he just wanted the world to leave him alone and he'd do the same to the world. But no, first thing of the morning he gets attacked and now the silver haired vampire wanted to talk to him. He just wasn't going to get a break.

"I spoke with Gin…"

"Who?"

The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it; from the sound of the name, it was short for the full name.

"The Werewolf that attacked you two days again;" with narrow eyes "he said he doesn't remember anything after having dinner with your succubus friend, and his hair is purple for some reason. Do you have anything to add to what I've learned already?"

The vampire had been looking into what happened on the day that Hiyori was at the Academy. By the tone of her voice, she didn't like what she had found out so far.

"He attacked me; it's that simple" as he changed legs "I can't remember everything from that day."

"He attacked you?" with a raised eyebrow "that's probably the only thing that is the same as what Yachiru told me. What are you and your friends hiding?"

Eiyu only had a stare off with the vampire; neither one of them letting up. He knew he had to stand his ground against her otherwise she would find out his true identity and then possibly expose him. That was something he couldn't have; he had enough stress to deal with without the silver haired vampire knowing his identity. Deep down though, something told him she already knew and only lacked the proof. Moka had a strong feeling that Eiyu was Tsukune; the only problem was that she didn't have anything that was proof. Gin told her he couldn't remember anything after his diner with the Succubus that Eiyu hangs out with, but knew that they didn't study together or have anything to drink. Things just weren't adding up when it came to 'Eiyu' and his friends.

Everyone watched as the Fraccion and vampire just stared at each other. No one had ever seen anyone brave enough to dare try to challenge the S-rank vampire in anything; it was suicidal to challenge her. Not only was she the strongest Yokai at the Academy, but even a hint at a challenge would result in someone being put in the infirmary for a while.

"KICK HIS ASS ONEE-SAMA!" Kokoa shouted.

Before either could say anything, a red ball was thrown between them and collided with the wall next to them causing a loud poung to sound throughout the gym. Both the Fraccion and vampire looked in the direction the ball came from to see Grimmjow tossing another ball into the air and catching it.

"Save it for our workout today;" with a secretive grin "cuz today we're gonna play dodge-ball."

Eiyu only walked away from the vampire as she continued to glare at the panther demon. He figured it was a good thing his mentor threw the ball when he did; had he waited, he was sure that him and the vampire would've been fighting. With her sniffing around and slowly finding ways that she can call the shinigami out on, he was going to have to be careful with what he says around her. Did he hate keeping his identity from her; yes, but he had to. Yamamoto-sou-taichou sent him here because of what he knew about the Academy, but gave him strict orders to maintain the alias 'Kenpachi Eiyu' no matter what.

"And both of us will be playing" Soifon added in.

"My class against yours?" Grimmjow asked as he looked at her.

"Fine;" as she walked over to her class.

This would allow her to get some frustration that the Arrancar was responsible for out of her system; while showing him that she was not someone to annoy. There was only one problem though, she had to limit her abilities because of the vampire that was in her class; said vampire already knew that she could move faster than any Werewolf, and was far stronger than she looked. If she were to use shunpo and her normal strength, it could blow her cover.

As the game began, he noticed that the vampire on the opposing team was looking at him with a glare. Something told him she was going to target him all throughout the game. With a quick side step, he dodged the first ball thrown in the entire game; he heard the ball hit someone behind him and knock that person to the ground. The ball rolled back towards him and bumped his foot; he looked at it before picking it up and looking at the other team. They had most of the balls and could easily throw enough to take out at least five people.

"Let's play Chocolate-Hair" Yachiru cheered as she jumped on his shoulder.

He nodded as he found a target and threw the ball; the ball smashed into the person's ribs just before knocking him to the ground. He had to limit his strength when he throws the next ball; he didn't want to put someone in the infirmary because of a game. The numbers on both sides slowly began to drop; Grimmjow was laughing like a sadist as he threw two balls and hit two students in the head. Soifon was easily dodging those that were thrown at her, without her shunpo, and retaliating by throwing one of her own.

Yachiru was gripping onto Eiyu's shoulder while giggling as her transportation would use sonido to evade three balls that were thrown at the same time to him. The tiny fuku-taichou enjoyed the slight head rush she would get every time he did that; like an artificial sugar high for her. Sure Ken-chan could move fast, but he wasn't as fast as Chocolate-Hair.

Moka was having trouble dodging the balls that the alleged panther demon threw at her; the speed was unreal even for her. She wasn't used to having to keep moving for this long. She always fought one on one and would normally end the fight with just one or two hits, but this was taxing her stamina. What was really annoying her was the way that the supposed panther demon was laughing as he dodged what was thrown at him and threw a ball right at the person.

Kokoa was grinning as she hit two guys on the other team in the nuts with the balls she threw; she had overheard them bad mouthing her yesterday and finally got payback. She would've bashed their heads in, but remembered they were playing this today; so she decided to wait and get her payback in a much more entertaining way.

Eventually there were only six on each side. Eiyu, Yachiru, Grimmjow, Kokoa and two other students in the freshmen class; Soifon, Moka, and four other students in the sophomore class. Moka was panting for air as she began to play cat and mouse with the other team; everyone had a ball and was being cautious about throwing it. She noticed that Yachiru was off of Eiyu's shoulder and giggling as she ran around in the open space that was now available on their side of the court. Then she saw a ball get thrown in the direction of the fairy; the small girl didn't even notice the ball before Eiyu grabbed it from the air just before it hit her. The person swore as he walked off the court.

Kokoa threw a ball at someone with great speed and hit him dead on. Soifon used the opening and hit the red haired vampire as she ducked under a ball Grimmjow had thrown at her. The ball hit Kokoa right in the side and made her cringe as the tingling went through her body; she always hated getting hit in these games. She stopped caring when she saw her Onee-sama throw a ball into the air and do a round house kick that sent the rubber item screaming towards Eiyu; who had his back turned for the moment. When the ball slammed into his shoulder, everyone knew it; not only by the sound of the hit, which rang through the gym, but by his limp arm. The ball had enough force behind it that when it hit its target, it dislocated the shoulder. Everyone looked at the Fraccion as he grit his teeth from the pain to keep from shouting something he shouldn't. Soifon and Grimmjow quickly called it quits when they saw that his shoulder had been dislocated.

"Damn;" Grimmjow said as he shook his head "didn't think that would've happened."

"I didn't mean…" Moka started to say before she was cut off.

"I'll be fine after I get to the infirmary;" Eiyu said as the pain started to subside.

"It's a simple dislocation;" Soifon said "you don't need to go to the infirmary. The joint is easy to reset;" as she took his arm and felt for the ball joint of the humorous "this will hurt."

Before Eiyu could nod, she pulled his arm and popped the joint back to where it was meant to be at. He let out a quick yell as everyone heard a crack coming from his shoulder. The pain was much easier to deal with when the joint came out; he could feel his muscles being moved around and his tendons being stretched as the joint went back into place.

"Move your arm around to make sure your tendons and muscles are where they should be" she ordered.

He did so and felt everything tighten up as he moved the joint.

"Full rotation; everything is fine" as she walked to her office to start writing the report about what happened.

-?-

"You worthless trash;" Gyokuro spat as the Hollow before her told her what happened "you had an opening to obtain Inoue Orihime and fail to do so and then you run after a mild altercation! I should kill you for being such a coward!"

Unfortunately, the one he was going to report to wasn't at the castle when he returned. So he was stuck having to report what he learned to the vampire in front of him.

"HE HAD BANKAI!" Midou snapped "NO ONE EVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THAT FUCKING PURE BREED HAVING BANKAI!"

Gyokuro flared her youki at the Hollow and forced him onto the ground without lifting a finger. She would not allow some filthy mixed breed to talk to her in such a way. Normally she would just kill the insolent fool, but Fujisaki insisted on letting him live; saying that he might prove useful in the future should he become an Adjuchas. Until that time, she would have to settle for flaring her youki at the imbecile and try to keep from killing him; trying and barely succeeding.

"Now Gyokuro-dono;" she heard Fujisaki say "please save your aggression for when it is needed."

"Hai" before she kicked the Hollow across the chamber they were in.

Fujisaki only shook his head as the powerful vampire walked back towards her seat. She had a slight temper and often lost control of it, but it was a rarity for her temper to become triggered. There was only one person that could take a full power hit from her and still get back up; Yammy never did know when to keep his mouth shut. He spouted something about working with the pathetic living, which Ulquiorra even stated that he could feel how much power was coming from her, and Gyokuro put him through four walls and crashing to the sandy ground of Las Noches. He watched as the Hollow pulled himself out of the hole that the vampire had put him in.

"You said that he had bankai?"

"Hai;" trying to sound respectful to keep from getting hit again.

"Most interesting;" as he tapped his chin "he couldn't use bankai after he defeated Aizen-sama. He is recovering at a faster rate than I expected; this could become problematic."

The tan vampire looked at the unofficial adopted son of Aizen as he continued to think. Just like Aizen, Fujisaki could find answers to problems that some would just dive head first into and get killed. She knew that he hadn't broken the seal Aizen put on his file about the Hogyoku; had the man done that, he wouldn't have wasted his time by coming out of his study. No; he would still be in it attempting to create a new, more powerful, one.

"I will be in my study trying to break that seal again;" as he walked into a dark hall.

"Remove yourself from my sight" Gyokuro demanded as she poured herself a glass of blood.

She watched as the Hollow opened a Garganta and leave the hidden castle they were in. As she took a drink of the blood in her wine glass, she reflected on the day that she met Aizen. She was much younger, and weaker, when she first laid eyes on the King of Hueco Mundo; just the way he carried himself back then showed how much power he truly had. The pressure bore down on her like a weight she couldn't lift. In that moment she believed to have hated him for flaunting his power and wished to kill him. Then the shinigami said something;

"_I'm sorry for harming you, for I just obtained this power and am still learning to control it."_

His voice was sincere, and when she looked into his eyes she could see right into his very being. It was like he was letting her see through him to show her he was telling the truth. Little did she realize that she was also letting him see right into her; showing him the hatred she held towards Bloodriver. He asked her who her anger was towards and why she would be so angry; when she told him, she told him everything. How she hated herself for being so weak, hated others of her species for treating her like dirt, and, above all, hated Bloodriver for preventing her from being with the one she desired. After she told him, he held out his hand and said;

"_I can help you become stronger; I see that you have the potential to shatter the limits of your species and make them bow at your feet. Do you wish to become that strong?"_

Her answer was not one of words, but of action; she took his hand. That was almost two hundred years ago; right around the time that he created his Hogyoku. Fifty years after that day, he showed her the Hogyoku and told her its ability; to see into the heart of someone and manifest their desire. However, he also warned her that it was still incomplete and could be dangerous to use to become as powerful as she wanted since he himself used the gem fifty years ago to increase his own power.

She had spent the past half a century training with Ulquiorra, but that process was far too slow; her strength had only increased by a mere margin. She said that the risk was worth the gain. For far too long had she been denied what she wanted; she was willing to do anything to prove her strength to Issa and finally topple Bloodriver. Her memory of what happened after she touched the gem was still blank, but when she woke up she could feel the power in her. After she proved to Issa she was just as powerful as Bloodriver, if not stronger, she swore undying loyalty to Aizen for giving her the strength to finally be with the one she desired.

A tear ran down her face as she remembered when she finally surpassed Bloodriver in strength. That was the day she thought Issa would turn his back to the pink haired Shinso and be with her forever. But he didn't; he said that because she lacked the Shinso blood she would never be able to produce a child of the strength that Bloodriver could. Those words almost shattered her heart, but he said that he would stay with her. After she learned of his child born of the descendant of Alucard, she planned to use that child to finally be rid of the throne in her side. It took far longer than she thought, but none-the-less it finally got rid of the pink haired vampire.

"Thank you; Aizen-sama" she whispered to herself.

-Yokai Academy-

Eiyu walked towards the gym after his final class; there was time for him to talk with Soifon before Karate Club started up. The one thing he wished for was that Grimmjow wasn't there; he already knew what Soifon would suggest to him, go to the Visoreds, but he had no idea of what Grimmjow would think. The Arrancar had fought against Ichigo and knew about what it would take for him to fully master his Arrancar powers, but he wasn't sure that he was ready to tell his male mentor about his Hollow.

Yachiru was playing with Yukari, which was a good thing for him; he knew she wouldn't be able to handle knowing he has a Hollow side just yet. Ghoul had told him about the terrified look on her face when he took over when Gin attacked them. Tsukune felt awful when Ghoul told him this; not only did she view him as a brother, but she was afraid of what lies dormant within him.

He needed to defeat Ghoul and gain control of his strength once and for all. But did he have the strength to face his darker nature and win? Ichigo had told him of the risk he took when he faced; if he lost, his Hollow would've taken control of their shared body. Could he really risk going to the Visoreds right now to fight Ghoul knowing that if he lost he could end up killing countless people? No, he couldn't; at least not without coming extremely close to losing.

As he pushed the doors to the gym open, he saw Soifon going through some techniques he hadn't seen her use before. What truly caught his eyes though was the fact that she was only wearing a black sports bra, small running shorts, and her shirt was thrown on the floor. He watched as she threw a punch and swung her leg around for a kick; every attack she made at her imaginary opponent was made in a fluid motion. All the years of training was showing in the training she was doing at the moment. Just looking at her train made him blush; her well toned muscles flexing as she threw various punches, and kicks. He knew she had a great body, but never expected her to look so beautiful.

'_**Major hard on right now'**_ he heard Ghoul snicker.

Soifon had sensed Tsukune was standing at the door, but because of the blush on her face she couldn't bring herself to face him just yet. Now she could only continue her workout and hope that her blush would die down, or Tsukune would leave. She wanted the prior to happen because she wanted more details about what happened two days ago.

"_Just acknowledge he's here already"_ Suzumebachi practically shout at her.

The taichou knew arguing with her zanpakuto would prove to be pointless.

"I know you're there Tsukune" she said as she threw another punch.

Tsukune fell to the floor in disbelief that she knew he was there; then again, he didn't try to hide his reiatsu or even hide himself.

"I didn't mean to spy on you;" he said quickly as he got up "it's just that I wanted to talk to you and saw you training and…" his face became flushed.

Soifon noticed his flushed face and already knew why; she was shirtless. Even after everything that's happened to the teen in the past month, he still acted so innocent; she found it odd, but entertaining at the same time. He could fight, and slay, Hollows, but couldn't look at her when she was shirtless. A mental sigh escaped her as she realized she was turning into Yoruichi; interested in a younger person, and finding amusement in their discomfort.

"What did you want to talk about?" as she walked over and grabbed her shirt.

"What happened when the Werewolf attacked me;" as he looked to the ground.

Soifon only looked at her subordinate when she heard that. Now she could finally know what really happened and not get the shortened version from the small fuku-taichou.

"Very well;" as she sat on the bleachers and waited for him to start talking.

"I'm not sure where to start;" he sighed as he remembered the day's events "I went to the Karate Club to see if I could train with them. Miyamoto-san said I could sit in on a session so he could see if I had what it takes to join. During the session, he noticed that my body would act more instinctual rather than practical;" Soifon's eyes gave away what she was thinking "he believes it's a way that Fraccion react to being injured to a certain point, like a natural defense."

"That's good" as she used her shirt to wipe her face free of sweat.

"He said that I was trying to control it, and that is the discipline needed to stick with the Karate Club. After I left, that's when the Werewolf attacked me. He knew how I was by my scent;" as he looked to the ground "I think I knew him when I was alive. He knew things about me, that I'd rather protect someone than fight for myself. As we fought, Ghoul said something to me;" hesitating to say it.

Soifon looked at Tsukune with her normal serious eyes, but was actually worried. Tsukune had never said anything about what Ghoul ever says to him; for him to be hesitating like this it had to be very concerning for him.

"He said that if my body can't handle the physical stress from a fight, he takes over rather I like it or not; neither of us get a say in it, it just happens. He also said that it was the same way when I was alive. There's so much I can't remember, but Ghoul can; he refuses to tell me anything and it makes me mad."

"But you are the one that has control;" Soifon said in a serious voice "not Ghoul. Even if he were to take over, I know how to make him become dormant again."

After she learned that Kurosaki could regain control of himself by shattering the mask that would grow on him when his Hollow takes over, she concluded that the mask was the key. By destroying the mask that would form on Tsukune, she could knock Ghoul out without seriously harming Tsukune.

"I don't think that will work when he gets control this way; when he was starting to possess me, I could try to control my body. But when I started becoming more injured, it was almost impossible to even try. Bloodriver-chan keeps him suppressed normally, but she can't when he takes control this way."

He waited, expecting the taichou to order him to go to the Visoreds and get control over Ghoul once-and-for-all. He wanted to go to the Hollowified shinigami, but he doubted he was strong enough to beat Ghoul. To top that, he didn't want to risk other's safety if he lost; he wanted to be sure that he could win before going to them.

"So the more damage you take the more control Ghoul has over you;" as she rested her finger on her chin "perhaps Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou should make a few modifications to your gigai while she is here. Make it so your strength and abilities aren't as limited; this way you can fight in your gigai without needing to worry about your Hollow. Why didn't you go with the Visored that came here?" with narrowed eyes.

"I… I don't think I'm strong enough to beat Ghoul;" with an inferior tone.

The petite taichou only shook her head as she got up and walked towards the locker room.

"Have more confidence in your skills" she said as she walked past him.

Tsukune didn't reply as his taichou continued to walk away from him; he felt like a weakling. He knew she was right because it was mostly the skills she taught him that let him last against the Doppelganger as long as he did. The only reason he had to shed his gigai was because the Doppelganger copied his form, and strength; he was thankful that the man wasn't able to copy his skills that took training to use. Had that happened, he might have needed to release his Shikai to be able to win.

"He worries me sometimes;" she said to herself as she began taking her sweaty clothes off "he wants to control Ghoul, but is too afraid to confront him because he fears he isn't strong enough to win. Tsukune, you need to have more confidence in yourself" as she turned the shower on and began to rinse off.

'_You know you've been calling him by first name since the start of your conversation, right?'_ Suzumebachi asked with a giggle.

Soifon turned bright red as she finally realized this; this was the first time that she didn't even try to stop herself from calling him by first name. Stopping to think about it, it felt odd to have a conversation where she didn't try to call someone by last name only; it was also nice that Tsukune didn't say anything about it. She wished it could've been a normal conversation, but Ghoul was becoming a bigger threat to Tsukune than his Arrancar mentor was to his health. This new discovery meant that they would have to get Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou to make modifications to Tsukune's gigai to help prevent Ghoul from taking over.

'_You also didn't bother to put your shirt back on; I never would've thought you were the type to try to show off your body, but I must say,'_ her zanpakuto teased _'he blushed pretty badly when he saw you almost naked. Hehe, maybe you could seduce him by only showing him your boobs.'_

Her face turned an even darker shade of red as she finally realized this too. Was she subconsciously trying to seduce Tsukune, or was it simply a mistake? Either way, she should've put her shirt back on when she sensed Tsukune was there; she was normally very self-conscious about her body, especially when compared to other female shinigami's. She hated having small breasts like she did; especially since that is what most guys first look at on women.

"What's wrong Bee; are you finally realizing your feelings for Tsukune?" she heard her mentor ask her.

"Yoruichi-sama!" as she turned around to see the princess in her feline form and then began to cover herself.

"Shesh Bee" with a sigh "still trying to hide your body;" as she shook her head "you still haven't learned that it's not just boobs that gets a guy, but proportion. You should flaunt what you have, because you're proportionate."

Soifon only continued to hide herself, her face remaining bright red; no matter how many times her mentor told her that, she never believed it. The petite taichou cautiously looked down at her breasts; Unohana-taichou had always told her that they were a good size for her height, even better considering how much she worked out, when she would go in for a physical. But she never believed her, the gentle taichou was known for being overly nice to everyone.

"With how red Tsukune was when he was watching you train," with a grin "I'd beat he liked what he saw;" as she turned into her human form "when was the last time you unbraided your hair so you could wash it properly?"

Soifon didn't reply to her mentor as the feline like princess stepped into the shower with her and began to unbraid her hair. She had missed having Yoruichi there to look out for her, but it was because Yoruichi left that she became as strong as she now was. No matter how much it hurt her, perhaps her mentor leaving her behind was a good thing.

"What is it you like about Tsukune?" Yoruichi asked as she finished unbraiding one of the two braids.

"The way he makes me feel like you made me feel; like an equal," with a slight blush "his desire to get stronger, and…" fighting to admit it "the mystery behind his past."

Yoruichi only smiled as she started unbraiding the second braid. She already knew that was one of the reasons, but she wanted to hear it from Soifon's mouth. Not only would it finally get her student to finally admit it to herself, but she wouldn't be stuck assuming.

"He makes you feel special;" Yoruichi said with a chuckle "that's how Kisuke makes me feel. Instead of looking at me like a clan head, or even an heiress like I was when I first met him, he sees me as just another person rather than someone that was to be pampered. I hated having others do things for me when I was growing up, my mother often lectured me for not letting the servants do what they were being paid to do."

Soifon nearly snapped at the mention of Urahara, but kept herself from doing so when her mentor explained why she liked the man so much. Soifon had to fight for everything she had, and liked when Yoruichi took her under her wing; after she became taichou though, she started hating having others do the things she could do. It made her feel weak and worthless; which was not a smart thing to make her feel. She had put a few members of her division in Fourth Division's Clinic when they brought her her lunch on the third day as taichou when she didn't request it.

"Kisuke has only ever addressed me as Yoruichi-san;" as the princess smiled at the memories "and it made me feel so good to be seen as an equal. I overheard Tsukune yesterday, he didn't refer to you as taichou;" while she started to scrub Soifon's scalp "I almost busted out laughing knowing that you would normally kill anyone that tried to call you what he did."

"What did he…" as she tried to turn around.

"I'm not going to ruin it;" forcing her student to stay facing away so no shampoo got into her eyes "the longer you wait to tell him how you feel, the greater chance you have of someone else snagging him" with a secretive grin.

She gently pushed Soifon underneath the shower head and continued to work with her hair until all the shampoo was rinsed out. Once that was done, she could see that after being in braids for so long Soifon's hair would look wavy. It was also longer now that they weren't twisted together; coming down to the middle of her butt rather than right above her waist. The princess smiled as she thought of a certain boy's most likely reaction to the sight of Soifon walking out without her hair in two braids.

She handed Soifon a towel to dry off with before turning back into her feline form and doing a small shake to get most of the water off. Soifon got dressed in the dry clothes she keeps in her locker. She was curious about what Tsukune called her; as for being called something that she would normally kill someone for, that list was long. Something as simple as not addressing her as taichou to calling her a whore; only one person ever called her that and he ended up in the Clinic for a month then got transferred to a different division.

The loose fitting clothes swayed against the air as she walked towards the door of the locker room; she could already hear the Karate Club training in the gym. She despised the lolicon black belt that was supposedly in charge of the Club; the black belt said that she was cute and started to rub her head like she was a child resulting in him getting kicked across the gym and into the wall. She knew she wasn't tall or even looked like a fully grown woman, but she was and expected to be treated as such.

Eiyu blocked a punch and kneed his opponent in the gut before kicking him in the face. After he explained his absence yesterday to Haiji, he was given a clean uniform and allowed to continue training with the Club. The black belt muttered something about their senpai being ashamed of Gin reverting back to his old ways before walking towards where they kept the uniforms. As soon as he got dressed, he was sparring against white belts from last year to learn more of the basics; which he picked up rather quickly thanks to Soifon already showing him a lot of the basics.

He flipped his opponent onto the ground and was about to request him to yield, but he saw Soifon walking out of the locker room and towards the exit. Her hair was unbraided and was wavy reaching pass her waist, the slight blush on her face, and the way her clothes hug loosely from her body; he was dumbfounded by the sight. She looked like an angel to him; only he'd never say that out of fear that she'd kill him. His opponent used the opening to punch Eiyu in the chin and knock him to the ground.

Yoruichi merely grinned inwardly as she watched what happened. She had skirted the boundary of her own rule by making Soifon wash her hair, but at the same time Soifon never braided it back before leaving the locker room; so she had still yet to actually break it. It was only a matter of time before one of the two finally snapped and they get hot under the bed sheets. The hardest thing for her to figure out was which one would snap first; Soifon seemed to be breaking down that wall she put up rather quickly, but Tsukune had a stronger primitive drive.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

"ICHIGO" Keigo shouted with joy as he ran towards his friend.

"Hey Keigo;" Ichigo said as he clothes-lined his brown haired friend with his upper arm "I'm here to see my sisters" as he looked at Tessai.

The large man nodded as he looked at the time, roughly six in the evening.

"Urahara-dono is in the training area with Karin-dono," in his usual deep voice "and Yuzu-dono is preparing dinner for us."

Ichigo's dad had told him that he asked Urahara to watch Karin and Yuzu while he was in Hueco Mundo visiting him. At first Ichigo thought that his dad was out of his mind, but remembered how strong the awkward blond man was and knew it was the best choice.

"Ichigo;" Nel said in a cheerful voice as she hugged him from behind, her boobs pressing against his head "your home is so beautiful, I understand why you were willing to die to protect it!" as her hug slowly got tighter "I couldn't imagine how sad you would be if you lost such a beautiful place! Will you show me more of the city? We can play Eternal Tag as you show me around!"

Nel came with him to finally see what a Living World city looked like. The massive buildings, all the people, the bright blue sky filled with clouds that looked like funny things, and all the people interacting in a peaceful way; she loved it.

"I can show you around," as a blush grew on his face "but I don't think Eternal Tag will be a good idea. Most people here can't see you and I don't want them to think I'm crazy by chasing you."

Keigo only looked at the green haired woman with wide eyes. Normally he would be trying to woo her, but it was the mask on her head that was filling him with fear; plus she was wearing a white outfit similar to what the other people were wearing when they attacked Karakura Town.

"I-I-Ichigo" as he pointed a shaking hand at Nel "you said no one else can see her?" he nodded "and she has a mask on her head" a noticeable tick mark showed on Ichigo's forehead "SHE'S ONE OF THEM!" as he crawled backwards to put distance between the Arrancar and himself.

Ichigo nearly lost it when his friend said that; Nel was not an Espada anymore. She was an Arrancar, yes, but she was a good person; luckily Tessai had grabbed the boy from the ground and picked him up to look him in the eyes.

"Must disrespectful, Keigo-dono" the man said "you should not assume awful things about such a beautiful woman merely because she is Arrancar."

Keigo only nodded as the man continued to hold him off the ground and glare at him. Ichigo only walked pass them, Nel following him, to go see Yuzu. He was sure that she missed him and wanted to make sure she knew he was alright. The girl was always over protective of him and didn't want him to grow up and leave; not that he ever planned on ever actually leaving Karakura Town except to be at the Seireitei or Hueco Mundo to work.

"Jinta-kun," Ururu warned in her usual soft tone "you shouldn't be watching Yuzu-chan when you're supposed to be working."

"Shut up and keep sweeping!" he snapped at her.

"Jinta-kun, Ich" she started to say.

"I said;" as he turned around to face her, but saw Ichigo standing only a foot from him.

Before the boy could try to explain himself, Ichigo shook his head and walked pass him. First Toshiro spending time with Karin, and now the red haired boy was taking interest in his other sister; what was next? He thought for a second and realized that it could be much worse; like when he walked in on Kenpachi and Retsu. The image scarred him. He never would've thought that Kenpachi and Retsu would be together, but opposites do attract. Maybe that's why he liked Orihime so much, because she was opposite of him; where he was a fighter, she was a healer so it made since in a way. It was also probably the reason Nel liked him so much; she's an Arrancar and he's a Visored, but she's also a lot like Orihime and didn't want to fight. Unlike Orihime though, she wasn't afraid to fight as long as there was a good reason to.

"Hey, Yuzu" he said as he saw her at the stove.

"ICHI-Nii!" she cheered as she ran over and gave him a hug.

"I'm here for the night, so we can go out to a movie if you want."

A nod into his stomach was the only response he got, and it was all he needed. He could tell that she missed him by the tears that were soaking his shirt. He introduced Nel to her, which was much better than Keigo's reaction; Yuzu said she was beautiful and Nel said she was cute before picking her up into a hug with about the same strength she hugged Ichigo with. After he managed to get Nel to let go, they went down into the training area to see Karin kicking a soccer ball at the hat wearing man, only barely missing.

"Very good Karin-san" Urahara said with a smile as he pulled his fan out "I believe we should call it a day; you have a visitor."

The black haired preteen turned around to see Ichigo standing there with a green haired woman.

"Ok," with a smile as she shook her head "I'm impressed." Ichigo had a confused look on his face "I told dad and Yuzu when you first brought Rukia-Onee-san over that I'd only be impressed if you brought home a woman of Orihime's caliber. I'm impressed."

"Her breasts are slightly larger than Orihime-san's" Kisuke chimed in.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" as he punched the hat wearing man's nose through the fan in front of his face.

"Always the face;" Kisuke whined as he held his bleeding nose.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note:

I am in need of more reviews. That is all; ON WITH THE STORY!  
Demon

Xxxxxx

It was now the Saturday, and Tsukune had spent last night doing light training with Soifon while Nemu worked on his gigai. Grimmjow also showed him how to use a new ability that he could use in a pinch if he needed to. Tsukune listened as Nemu explained the last of the modifications she had done to the gigai he was in.

"The gigai's durability was originally twenty percent of what your durability is while out of it, now the gigai's durability is forty five percent;" she explained "also, as you requested, I increased the percentage of your personal abilities from twenty percent to roughly fifty percent; I still remain unaware of the exact percentage. It would be wise to stretch while in your gigai to prevent any unnecessary repercussions of having myself work on the modifications as the artificial muscles may be stiff and could possibly tear under the strain you intend to put them under today."

It took the fuku-taichou most of the night to make the proper adjustments to the gigai. While it would've been easier to make an entirely new gigai for the boy, she didn't have the supplies to do so; what supplies she did have went to, and are still going to, the blade Tsukune had requested she make that will act as a gigai for his zanpakuto. The biggest problem she was facing was having the artificial blade mimic the same abilities of the actual zanpakuto that would be placed into it. In theory it should be as simple as what she had done when making the gigai for the group that was deployed to Yokai Academy, but in reality, it was much more complicated than that.

Tsukune had told her the abilities of his zanpakuto, and was surprised that it had any in its completely sealed state. When she first began working on the gigai blade, she had no idea what to expect or how to make it so that the blade could use its natural abilities. It wasn't until she was modifying Tsukune's actual gigai that she suddenly remembered that her father often used the average measurements of males when creating a gigai for someone. It took her an extra hour, but she finally found the answer she was looking for; the gigai had been designed to allow the spiritual body to force certain changes to the gigai without the person realizing it. She would have to remodify the blade she was working on to allow the zanpakuto spirit to modify the weapon to be similar to its normal katana.

"Thanks Nemu-chan;" as he stretched his arm "about how long will it take for you to finish working on the blade?"

"I am unsure;" with a straight face as she looked at the blade on the table "I apologize for not knowing the answer when it was right in front of me" with an apologetic bow.

"It's… ok" unsure about how to react "it'll get done; I have faith in you Nemu-chan."

"T-T-Thank you;" with a blush "Aono-san."

-One hour later-

Tsukune stood in the gym as he continued to stretch out his stiffened muscles. At first he thought Nemu was exaggerating when she said they'd be stiff; she was understating the seriousness if anything. He felt like he had just finished training with Grimmjow for three days and went to sleep without stretching; the artificial tissues were protesting each movement he made. It was a surprise to him that it took so long for the artificial tissues to stiffen up to where it started to hurt to walk. With a grunt, he continued to stretch the gigai out so he would be able to fight when the time came. He remembered everything Soifon had showed him about stretching; a minimum of thirty seconds for static stretches was needed to properly stretch the muscles. Flexibility was something that he probably wasn't going to have for this test that Kuyo was going to put him through.

Something told him that he was going to have to use almost everything he's been taught by Soifon, Grimmjow, and Rangiku in this fight. Each of his kido spells, which had slowly increased in number since his fight against the doppelganger, might have to be used with everything he has. His Hierro probably wouldn't be able to last for the entire fight; since Grimmjow said it was barely a novice level Hierro it probably couldn't take too much damage anyway. His entire skill set for hand-to-hand combat would have to be used; even the technique that Soifon taught him last night should he not be fast enough to dodge an attack.

He looked at the clock as he stopped his stretch; two more hours before he had to meet the Kitsune at the Monster Tree to begin the test. It was plenty of time for him to get the rest of his gigai stretched out and then get the outfit he wanted to wear from his room. When he first asked Soifon if he could wear his Shinigami Academy uniform, she didn't have to say a word for him to know she disagreed with the idea; he knew there was a chance that either Moka or Kokoa would be able to recognize the design as similar to his shinigami uniform and call him out. After he said that he could pass it off as something he always trains in, the taichou only sighed before continuing his training.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout Chocolate-Hair?" Yachiru asked him as she snacked on a candy bar.

"I'm not really sure;" with a slight chuckle "I guess the test Kuyo-san is going to have me take."

"I hope it's a fight;" the tiny fuku-taichou cheered.

Tsukune didn't reply as he stretched his legs again for the third or fourth time. All the muscles were finally feeling loose enough to do proper stretches without hurting himself. As he stretched his legs further he felt the pull that he was looking for and gradually stretched it further until it became a slight stinging. When he was satisfied with how loose his legs were he began to stretch his shoulders; to his surprise they weren't as tense as he thought they would be.

"Tsukune" he heard a female voice say.

When he looked over his shoulder he saw Ruby standing near the basketball hoop with a concerned look in her eyes. It was like she was going to be forced to relive something.

"What's wrong Ruby-chan?" he asked.

"The Head Master told me you were going to be joining the Safety Committee;" with water building in her eyes "why?" before he could respond "why would you join them? They tried to kill you!" as tears ran from her eyes "They hurt Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari! I watched you get shot by Kuyo's fire spear and burst into flames; I don't want that to happen to you again!"

"I need to keep her away from me;" as he looked to the ground.

"WHO?" she demanded to know as the tears ran faster "WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU AVOID HER!"

"Red-chan;" Yachiru said "he's been tryin' to keep away from her since we showed up here."

"It's hard to explain Ruby-chan" Tsukune said as he looked at her "but it's better if she is far away from me; please trust me."

The witch could see the look of uncertainty in his eyes; there was something he was hiding, from more people than just her. Whatever it was, it was a problem he was trying to handle on his own; she hated when he did that. She owed her life to Tsukune and would do anything to help him, but when he refused to say what was wrong it made it impossible to do that.

"Why must you keep things from your friends?" she asked as she wiped a few tears from her face "You saved me from the darkness within my heart; had you not done that, my fate would have been sealed and I would have become a Hollow. I owe you my life Tsukune; I wish to repay my debt to you;" as Tsukune sonido in front of her and hugged her "no matter what you ask me to do it."

-Two hours later-

Eiyu stood in front of the Monster Tree in his Shinigami Academy uniform as he thought about everything that he could remember from his life as a living person and from what Ruby had told him. He remembered that Kuyo had tried to kill him once before, but that was all he could remember about the Kitsune. With a shake of his head, he forced the memory out of his head; that was the last thing he needed to be thinking about before a fight.

'_**If ya need to get somethin' off yer mind,'**_ Ghoul taunted/suggested _**'you could always ask that Nemu chick for a quickie. She looks like she'd put out for ya.'**_

Eiyu's face slowly became red at what his Hollow just suggested. The fuku-taichou was cute, but after he attacked her supposed father she probably hardly wanted anything to do with him. His mind played the fight over again; his sole focus was on protecting the fuku-taichou from the painted scientist and he didn't care what happened to him. That day was a long one for him and he remembered that Soifon said he was luck he wasn't charged with treason and killed on sight by Yamamoto-sou-taichou.

"Kenpachi" he heard behind him.

He turned around to see what could easily be described as a small army behind Kuyo. It didn't take long for him to see all the students rushing to get a good view of what was about to happen. Everyone was pushing each other out of the way in an attempt to guarantee the best possible view of the fight that everyone was predicting. Rumors had spread about when he saved Moka from the rain, some were suggesting sex happened but he easily corrected those, that they had fought and it was a one sided fight; the story varies on whom the battle was in favor of.

"It seems there are a lot of students that want to watch this weakling get killed" a girl with purple hair snickered.

"Silence Keito;" Kuyo ordered "this sort of turnout is to be expected because he is a freshmen being offered a spot on the Committee."

The Jorougumo fell silent just as she was ordered to.

"If she thinks she can take Eiyu," Grimmjow said as he appeared next to his student "maybe the bitch should fight him herself."

The Arrancar glared at the purple haired girl and flared his reiatsu to get a point across. He saw the girl's eyes widen as she felt the pressure he was exerting with just his reiatsu and grinned as she struggled to breathe. If she was having issues with just that small level of reiatsu, there was no way she'd be able to fight Aono and win; he was barely flaring his reiatsu to the level of a third seat shinigami.

"Jagerjaquez" Soifon said as she appeared a distance away from what was soon to be the middle of a battle field "that's enough."

Grimmjow only gave her a look before he stopped flaring his reiatsu; again, he felt like he was whipped. Ever since Nel had talked him into becoming allies with shinigami he seems to be taking orders from this flat chested annoyance more and more. At least with the Fourth Division's Taichou he knew that she could put _anyone_ on the ground with one hit; he watched her disarm Kenpachi and slam him to the ground, all in one motion, when he tried to attack Ichigo in the Clinic.

"Is the panther demon afraid of a woman?" Kuyo mocked.

"Hardly;" Grimmjow spat "at least I know she's strong enough to put me on my ass. Unlike that silver haired headache that I heard kicked yer ass last year;" the sound of Kokoa shouting something while being held back by Mizore and Yukari could be heard "looks like yer so afraid of one person ya needed an army to bring him down. How pathetic."

The Kitsune and Arrancar glared at each other before Eiyu finally spoke up.

"Grimmjow-sama; I will show him what you have taught me and that you shouldn't be underestimated."

"Make it entertaining;" he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away.

"Hai."

All that was heard before Eiyu could say anything else was Kuyo snapping his fingers; the test had begun. One of the members of the Safety Committee turned into a giant rock golem and swung at the Fraccion. Everyone watched as Eiyu didn't move out of the path of the massive, incoming, rock fist that could possibly kill him. Everything was happening fast for those watching, but slow for Eiyu; his training with Grimmjow and Soifon had made his eyes accustomed to seeing attacks that were almost lightening fast.

'_Should you ever face an opponent larger than yourself'_ he heard Soifon's voice tell him _'use their size against them. Let them attack first and use that momentum against them. That is a part of what it means to be a member of Onmitsukido.'_

In one fluid-like movement, he grabbed the golem's wrist and flipped him onto the ground behind him; barely missing Grimmjow, who didn't even flinch. Everyone had their jaws on the ground at what they had just witnessed; without leaving his human form, the Fraccion had put one of the largest Yokai known on the ground. This showed everyone that Fraccion had to be S-class Yokai to be able to do that since only vampires are said to be able to take down such a large creature with that little effort.

Soifon gave a nod of approval to what had just happened as her student blocked another attack that came from a small girl with a staff. He remembered what she told, and showed him; which was good. If he had forgotten something that simple she would've began to question her attraction to him…

'_Finally admitting it to yourself without your precious Yoruichi-sama here; that's good'_ her bee-like zanpakuto teased.

Eiyu barely moved his head out of the path of the butt of the staff his opponent attacked him with. She might be small, but she was very good with the weapon she was using and he didn't want to know how much power she had behind it either. The girl spun the large staff over her head and nearly hit him as he tried to get closer to her so he could use a kido spell on her. No matter how many times he sparred against Soifon, he could never bring himself to really push himself against her; he wasn't sure if it was because he was attracted to her or if it was because he didn't like fighting women. Both seemed to be very likely, but with Soifon it was probably the prior rather than the latter. She was more than strong enough to take his hits, if he could manage to land one, and had even told him about some of her fights when she was training under Yoruichi.

Eiyu jumped to the side to avoid being hit with a downwards strike coming at him; now he had his opening. Using sonido, he appeared behind the girl and was ready to cast the spell.

"Bakudo Number One: Sai" as he placed his index and middle finger against his opponent's back and threw them to the side.

The girl's eyes went wide as her arms were wrenched behind her back and locked into place before she fell to the ground. Before Eiyu could even look around again, he was surrounded by several members of the Safety Committee. Before the first one could turn into its true form, he had appeared behind him and kicked out his knees and landed an open palm strike to the center of his back, forcing him onto the ground.

"I'll bite" Grimmjow said as he looked at Soifon "what have you been teaching him?"

"The things you lack" she answered bluntly.

"Explain;" as he watched Eiyu take down three more opponents.

"Control of his strength, _real_ hand-to-hand combat skills, and agility;" as Eiyu twisted around a punch that was thrown "things you would never have been able to teach him because you are a brawler like Kurosaki, nothing more."

The Arrancar growled to himself as he watched the fight continue. Aono threw a series of punches into an Ogre's stomach before knocking its legs out from underneath it. In only a few short minutes, Aono had defeated roughly half the Safety Committee and was still fighting like it was nothing; of course, he didn't expect anything less with how he's been pushing the shinigami during training. The one thing that was annoying the Arrancar was that his student had barely taken the offensive and he was only seeing things that the flat chested taichou taught him.

Without warning, Eiyu felt something sticky on his hand; when he looked he saw a silk-like thread clinging to it. His eyes traced the thread back to the girl that Kuyo had called Keito; who was in her true form and up on the Monster Tree. With a quick jerk, he was pulled up to where she stood and caught in the nearly invisible web she had spun. The sticky string that made up the web prevented him from being able to move as the Jorougumo crawled close to him in almost a taunting manner before she began spinning him in a web cocoon.

Kurumu, Mizore, Moka, and Yukari watched in slight horror as the boy that resembled Tsukune was being wrapped up. Kurumu knew how hard it was to break the threads that made up the web, and questioned if Eiyu would be able to do it or not. She remembered her last encounter with the spider woman and how it almost cost her her freedom had it not been for Moka and Yukari showing up.

"The baka has at least one thing that can get him out of that;" Kokoa spat "I don't see why yer all worried."

Yachiru only nodded with agreement with Strawberry-chan as she watched a small bulge grow in the cocoon.

"Wrapped up nice and tight;" Keito said with a smug grin "I'll save him for later when I'm hungry" with a laugh as she lowered herself from the web to the ground.

Rangiku tightened her grip on Gin's hand as she hoped that her fellow shinigami could break out of the silk prison he was in. She had asked Ginnei to go with her to watch the fight as a type of date; of course the Werewolf said yes, he finally had his hair dyed back to its natural color and she was beautiful. There were a few things about the fight that had an unusual familiar in the way Eiyu was fighting; he couldn't figure out why, but it was like he had firsthand experience fighting the Fraccion. His eyes moved so he could see the succubus he was here with and saw the worried look in her eyes and that she was biting her lip with almost enough force to make it bleed.

"I'm sure he'll get out fine;" reassuring the blonde beauty "you said that those gym two sensei were training him, so there's nothing to worry about."

All Eiyu could see was darkness as it quickly became harder to breathe. Keito had made sure there were no air holes in his prison and it would soon mean his death if he didn't think of a way to rip the webbing apart. As he gave a small squirm, he felt that his right hand was palm out; which gave him an idea. He survived being blown up by it several times before, so now that he had a stronger gigai there shouldn't even be a second thought to his plan.

"In thirty seconds" Keito laughed maniacally "he'll run out of air and be dead. You wasted you time with this loser Kuyo-sama; he probably…"

Suddenly, the cocoon she had wrapped Eiyu in exploded in a display of smoke and fire as a figure fell from the web. He had used the Shakkaho to force his prison to explode; he knew he would take some damage by doing it, but it got him out and able to breathe again. As he picked himself up off the ground, he coughed up the dirt, dust, web, and smoke he inhaled on his way down; he began to wonder if he put too much power into the spell as he felt a slight hunger begin to grow within him. With his zanpakuto back with Nemu, he could feel Ghoul begin to attempt to take over; he had to stall Ghoul until Nemu could return Bloodriver to him.

"That *cough* was *cough* close *cough*" as he looked at the spider that had trapped him.

"Impossible" Keito muttered as she starred at the scorched Fraccion "I'll just make your next prison even stronger!" she shouted as she spat another thread onto Eiyu.

Eiyu quickly grabbed a hold of the thread, yanked Keito towards him before punching her in the gut and following up with an uppercut to her jaw. The spider's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she lost consciousness before she hit the ground again. She had never fought against someone that could knock her out with one hit before; only the vampire she fought last year came close to knocking her out. A katana was suddenly shoved through Eiyu's chest; which caused everyone to gasp at what they just witnessed. Kuyo had appeared behind the freshmen and literally stabbed him in the back; to make things worse there was a large grin on his face.

Soifon only smirked before there was a static like boom and only Eiyu's top remained on Kuyo's blade. She had taught Tsukune Utsusemi for just this reason, but it required him to move so fast that he nearly loses his vision for a short time. Regardless, it saved his life from the Kitsune and she was glad for that.

"That was quiet impressive" Kuyo said with a grin "I have never seen anyone move so fast they left an afterimage before;" as he threw Eiyu's top to the ground with a flick of his blade.

Eiyu only panted heavily; he considered himself lucky that he sensed the leader of the Safety Committee when he did and not a second later. That split second that it took him to move that fast could've been the one he used to watch his life flash before his eyes, or at least as much of it as he remembered. Suddenly a memory assaulted him; it was of when Kuyo arrested him for being a human. Gin had him in a head lock and was messing around about something when the Kitsune pointed a sword at him. The memory flashed forwards to when he was tied to a cross and light on fire by Kuyo; then saved by ice shooting out of the ground.

He covered his right eye in an attempt to block the memory because of the burning pain he was feeling throughout his body. While it was faint, it still felt like he was very close to something very hot. Then the burning pain went away as he saw Ruby and Kurumu cut him free from the cross and flew him to the roof of the Academy. When he got up, there was a fire spear through his chest and he was set on fire all over again before collapsing to the ground.

'_**He's one of the ones that are responsible for what happened to us'**_ Ghoul said with venom in his voice _**'he's the reason for our first injection of that whore's blood, and I will kill him as well.'**_

Tsukune grit his teeth as black finger looking things began to reach across his eye; it was just like when Ghoul took over when he fought the Werewolf. No; he couldn't let Ghoul get control again. He wasn't going to let it happen; he flared his reiatsu and forced the fingers that he saw reaching across his eye slowly regress.

Soifon felt the sudden flare of Tsukune's reiatsu and could also feel Ghoul's reiatsu beneath it. She bit the inside of her lip as she waited to know the results of Tsukune's conflict with his Hollow. Maybe he would finally take this as the hint that he needed to go to the Visoreds to get Ghoul under control and be able to use his strength. She wasn't afraid of Ghoul for herself, but rather what he could do to Tsukune; which was something she didn't want to think about.

Grimmjow felt the same thing Soifon did; the odd reiatsu from when Aono was attacked by the Werewolf. His eyes narrowed as he watched him cover his eye like he was hiding something that was happening to them; it reminded him of his first fight with Kurosaki. The Substitute Shinigami had zoned out, or so he thought, and he should've used that opening to kill him right then; thinking back on it though, he's glad he didn't. Had he killed Kurosaki that night, Aizen would've succeeded in his plans and there was no telling what would have happened. There's one thing he knows for sure though, he never would've met Shizuka. Now, he was going to get an answer out of either the taichou or Aono himself; he knew something was up.

'_**One day, you will understand my side of things;'**_ Ghoul swore before the fingers completely vanished.

Eiyu looked at Kuyo and saw a slightly confused look on the Kitsune's face. Before any words could be said between the two, something black in the crowd caught his eye; Nemu was standing next to Grimmjow with a black katana in her hands. She had finished it in time; she also had her fuku-taichou badge hidden like he asked her to do.

"Eiyu-san" she said calmly "I have what you requested" as she tossed him the sheathed weapon.

He quickly disappeared and snatched it out of the air. He felt Bloodriver's reiatsu flow from the weapon and back into him, fully forcing Ghoul back into submission. Soifon felt the last of Ghoul's reiatsu retreat and let her lip go as she began to taste the metallic liquid in her mouth.

'_I hope Ghoul did not attempt to take over in my absence'_ Bloodriver said.

'_It's alright Bloodriver-chan, I forced him to stop before he got too close'_ Tsukune reassured her.

'_Very well, it would be wise to end this before the Youko resorts to using his true form.'_

He put the sheath in the sash that was still around his waist and drew Bloodriver. Now he could finally see how much his kendo improved through his sparring with Grimmjow, or if he would need to look into joining the Kendo Club as well. Holding Bloodriver in his right hand, he vanished with sonido and appeared behind Kuyo ready to strike, but the Kitsune easily blocked as retaliated with a kick to Eiyu's gut. The kick sent Eiyu flying back into the Monster Tree and left a large crack in the bark. The Kitsune was quickly on coming down on him with another swing; Eiyu sonido out of the way and reappeared in the air. Both Soifon and Grimmjow had taught him how to condense the spirit particles in the air underneath his feet, which he was very thankful for; now he didn't need to spend five minutes climbing out of his window and down to the ground when he had to do patrol.

"Being in the air won't protect you" Kuyo said as he began levitating and then took off towards the Fraccion.

"You can beat 'im Chocolate-Hair!" Yachiru cheered from her spot with Yukari before she began climbing up the Monster Tree to get a better view.

Eiyu blocked Kuyo's blade with his own and pushed back as their aerial battle began. Kuyo quickly found an opening and made a large gash across the Fraccion's chest. Blood flowed from the wound and Eiyu was completely surprised that his Hierro didn't stop the blade when it made contact with his skin. He raised his blade, blocked another attack before vanishing and reappearing beside Kuyo where there was an opening and making an equally nasty gash on the Kitsune.

The Fraccion followed up with a kick to the side of the kitsune's face, which sent him flying towards a ruined building in the distance. He didn't let up against the Kitsune as he pursued the leader of the Safety Committee. He didn't need to knock the fox Yokai out, only make it so that he couldn't fight back; which was going to be easier thanks to a spell Soifon taught him, he only needed to get an opening to use it. The Youko recovered in time to block Eiyu's katana from making another wound on him; the Fraccion was only using one hand to wield his blade and was still giving him issues, he should've spent more time training in his Kendo rather than just increasing his power.

His eyes widened as he watched the cut across Eiyu's chest stop bleeding and begin to close up as if it were healing already. Regeneration on that level was only supposed to belong to the highest level vampires, yet this Fraccion was using it. His mind wondered about the possibility that Fraccion were actually Monstrels with different abilities; ie, instead of turning limbs into weapons they can use individual powers of their lineage. His thoughts were cut short as Eiyu pushed his blade away, made an opening and used his free hand to punch him in the chest forcing him back against a ruined wall.

Eiyu used his free hand to begin the spell that Soifon had taught him. It was a lower level Bakudo that didn't have an incantation that he knew of, but luckily he could use it without the incantation. He quickly built up reiatsu in his hand and a yellow light began to show as he made a triangle with his arm, leaving the yellow triangle where he traced it.

"Bakudo Number Thirty: Shitotsu Sansen!"

With that said, a large claw looking spike came out of each corner before being fired at the Kitsune; who didn't have time to get out of the way. The claw looking triangles pinned him to the wall at the midsection and both arms; he struggled to break the condensed Youki but to no avail. The powerful magic that the Fraccion had just used wasn't budging at all, nor was it letting up in the slightest.

"That was a good spar" Eiyu said as he sheathed his blade.

"Don't think that this can hold me;" as his youki began to increase and fire came from him.

As the youki increase, the yellow claws began to crack under the pressure he was exerting until they completely shattered with fire flowing around him. Eiyu took a surprised step backwards as the kitsune's eyes began to glow red. Soifon was surprised at the reiatsu she was feeling it was roughly like a strong fuku-taichou level, only the power was different than what a shinigami's would be; it wasn't coming from a zanpakuto, it was as if the power was coming from the kitsune's core. Grimmjow grit his teeth as he thought that he had covered everything in training Aono, only he hadn't; he knew where the reiatsu was coming from, it was like an Arrancar was releasing its Resurrection. The power he was feeling was coming from within the Youko.

"I was hoping to be able to save this for when I sought revenge on the Newspaper Club," as his legs began to turn into the hind quarters of a fox "but you are proving to be an opponent I must use this against. Behold" as five tails sprouted from his backside and his ears began to resemble actual fox ears "my hybrid form and new power!" as he shot a small wave of fire at the Fraccion.

Eiyu sonido out of the way of the flames coming at him; sweat finally began to roll down his body as he felt the heat coming from the flames he just dodged. Just defense wasn't going to let him hold his ground against the Kitsune, and he knew that; there was only one problem, he didn't know many offensive spells for kido and the ability Grimmjow showed him nearly took his arm when he tried to do it. The only thing he could do right now was try to push the five tailed Kitsune back as hard as he could with the two offensive kido he knew before attempting to use what Grimmjow had him try.

He quickly drew his blade when he saw Kuyo attack him with his own katana ready to slice him. The two blades clashed together with a loud ring as the Kitsune used his tails to attack the Fraccion, and hoping to fatally wound him. Much to his chagrin, Eiyu quickly used sonido to put just enough distance between the two of them; he wasn't used to having to keep track of so many potential weapons at once. Kuyo made a fire spear in his free hand and threw it at the Fraccion with the deadly accuracy he had spent the past six months working on.

"Hado Number Thirty One: Shakkaho" Eiyu cried out before the attack flew from his hand towards the spear that was chucked at him.

When the two fire based attacks met, there was a large fiery explosion and several students let out screams as they tried to get out of the way of the flames. Eiyu looked down to the students below and knew this fight had to stop before they got hurt.

"We need to stop this, Kuyo-san!" Eiyu shouted at the Youko, who had elevation on his side "otherwise the students will get hurt!"

"The only way to stop this will be for you to defeat me! Now show your true form and fight!" as he held his hand up in the air and a blue flame began to spin like a buzz saw and get larger.

Moka's eyes widened as she saw the number of tails that Kuyo had. Last she saw he only had four, and she knew how hard it was for any Youko to gain an extra tail; she could only imagine how hard it would've been for the deranged leader of the Safety Committee to gain his fifth. She was secretly thankful that Eiyu had forced him to use his hybrid form and reveal the newest tail. Even more so since he said that he was planning on using that new strength against her and her friends for defeating him last year.

Eiyu watched as the blue spinning flame grew larger and larger until it was larger around than he was tall. His eyes shook with slight fear since he had no idea how to stop such a powerful looking attack. He had never trained against high level attacks since his focus had been on hand-to-hand combat and zanjutsu. Then he remembered something Grimmjow had told him.

'_Should yer practical skills fail ya,'_ Grimmjow's voice rang in his head _'follow yer instincts and don't hold shit back!'_

Eiyu listened to his instincts and held out his left arm and began to focus his reiatsu into his palm. Slowly, a red orb began to grow in his palm as he focused on what his instincts were telling him. They told him to fight in a way he's never fought before; sure he was more focused on stopping the attack so no students got hurt, but he was listening to his instincts which told him to kill the Youko. The red orb grew to the size of a basketball before being compressed to the size of a volley ball.

"Fuck;" Grimmjow said as he knew what Aono was doing "the last time he tried that it nearly took his arm off!"

"What are you talking about?" Soifon asked.

"The reason we were training during yer little meetin'" as he watched the Kitsune throw the flame wheel at Eiyu "was 'cause his gigai was soakin' in the pool to heal after he tried to use…"

"Cero" Eiyu muttered.

The red sphere warped the space around it as all the compressed reiatsu was forced out of a single opening and sped towards the blue flames. As the two collided, the blue flames were forced around the red reiatsu based attack and went out from the lack of a fuel source. The two attacks canceled each other out, but that didn't stop the two combatants from continuing their fight. Eiyu used sonido to appear in front of Kuyo, his zanpakuto already mid-swing aimed at the kitsune's midsection. His mind didn't care if he killed his opponent; from what Ruby had told him, it would be for the better if he was dead.

Kuyo barely blocked the blade that was aimed for his stomach before retaliating with a kick to the Fraccion's face. The brown haired teen started to fall to the ground, but caught himself and came back swinging again. The Kitsune locked blades with his opponent and glared at him as they attempted to push each other back. It was suddenly as if he were fighting a different person; Kenpachi was not only fighting with almost everything he had, but he was attacking areas that could kill the Kitsune.

Eiyu spun around and kicked Kuyo in the head, forcing him to fall towards the ground; he sonido to the ground to watch the powerful Kitsune smash into the ground. As the leader of the Safety Committee picked himself up out of the small crater he had formed, there was rage in his eyes; he believed that the Fraccion was simply toying with him by not showing his true form. He locked eyes with his opponent and decided to end the fight with one last attack; it was something he was still trying to perfect, but now was as good a time as any to use it. Fire began to engulf his sword as he increased his youki; all the spectators began to tremble as they felt the powerful-to-them youki and tried to back away. The fire expanded from his blade to his arm and down to the ground, leaving burn marks in the dirt around him.

The Fraccion watched the fire grow around his opponent and centered Bloodriver on himself. The last time he held Bloodriver properly was to defeat the doppelganger earlier in the week, but he didn't have any problems doing it again since he knew his opponent was strong enough to take the hit. Red reiatsu could be seen around Eiyu as he charged towards the Youko; he had to end the fight right then to keep those that were watching from getting hurt. Kuyo followed suit and charged the Fraccion with his fire following closely behind him; the Kitsune let out a loud battle cry as he swung his sword at the brown haired teen. When the two blades collided, the fire that was behind Kuyo shot forward towards Eiyu; as well as past him towards the crowd. The students panicked as the flames drew close at an alarmingly fast rate; only to stop thirty feet from them.

"**I decide to go on a walk to clear my head and end up having to protect my students from an attack that someone cannot control;"** the Head Master sighed as he held his Rosary of Judgment up to maintain the barrier he made **"Kenpachi and Kuyo"** with another sigh **"I should have suspected as much with today being the Kenpachi's test."**

As the flames died down, everyone was shocked to see that Eiyu's katana was stuck in the Monster Tree and glowing red hot. Kuyo's blade was held only inches away from the Fraccion's neck with its wielder panting heavily; Eiyu panting just as heavily while surprised he lost his grip on Bloodriver.

"You lose" Kuyo said as he pulled his blade away from Kenpachi's neck.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Eiyu pulled his blade out of the Monster Tree and watched as the blade quickly began to cool down because of his reiatsu. He was thankful that Bloodriver was alright after that attack; he was half expecting the blade to break from the force. Once the blade was cool enough, he sheathed his zanpakuto and started to head back to his room.

"Kenpachi;" he heard Kuyo call out to him.

"Hai;" as he looked at the Kitsune he just finished fighting.

"We have a briefing tomorrow morning for the Survival Day on Monday at seven thirty; don't be late" as he started to leave.

Eiyu nodded as he remembered hearing about classes being canceled on Monday for something the sophomores had to do.

"Congratulations, Eiyu-san" Nemu said with a bow.

Kuyo looked at the black haired girl that had thrown Eiyu his katana with narrow eyes. Had she not given him that weapon he could've wiped the floor with the Fraccion without any problems.

"Exactly who are you?" he questioned her.

"This is Kurotsuchi Nemu" Eiyu introduced her.

"I'm his lover from back home;" Nemu said without hesitation.

Kuyo only raised an eyebrow when he heard this, and saw the look of surprise on Eiyu's face. He looked like he wasn't expecting her to say that, or anything remotely close to that. Just that was enough for him to question rather she was telling the truth or not.

"Do you require proof?" the black haired girl asked.

Kuyo only nodded. Much to his surprise, the mysterious girl didn't hesitate in the slightest to put her hand down Eiyu's pants and take a firm hold of him. Eiyu tensed up at the sudden feeling in his loins as his face turned bright red and a small nose bleed began to trickle. Everyone that could see what had happened either deadpanned from disbelief that the fuku-taichou had just done that or had passed out from a nose bleed themselves.

'_**Forever the ladies man, aren't you Tsukune-kun?'**_ the Head Master chuckled to himself as he walked back to his office.


	20. Chapter 20

Kuyo tapped his fingers on the table that had those that were pulling the security for the Survival Day for the second years sitting around it; only missing one person. It was the person that was responsible for him needing fifty stitches in his side and having to limit his training for another two weeks; Kenpachi Eiyu. His yellow eyes looked at the clock on the wall and saw that their newest member still had fifteen minutes before being considered on time; which meant he was going to be late by their standards. Being early to a briefing was important for everyone, especially considering that the masked creatures attacking the campus grounds. The door to the meeting room was pushed open, and everyone turned to see the only freshmen in their ranks standing there dressed in a Safety Committee uniform. His uniform was similar to the one that Kuyo wore; only instead of the long black trench coat type jacket his stopped just below the waist and instead of wearing normal shoes he wore the shinigami sandals.

"I'm not late am I?" he asked as he saw everyone practically glaring at him.

"Since this is your first day;" Kuyo said "I will let this pass with only a warning…"

"**So sorry Kenpachi-san is late"** the Chairman said as he pushed pass Eiyu **"I was enlightening your newest member on the location of the briefing and I got off topic."**

No one said anything as the Exorcist handed Kuyo the file he needed and left the room. There was only one person that everyone in the room feared more than Kuyo, and that was the man that just walked out of the room. Absolutely no one knew what his story was, how old he is, or anything about the hooded man; plus those eyes always looked like they were seeing right through you at all times. No one ever said the word, but they always thought it; creepy, that was the only way for them to describe the strange man.

"Now that everyone is here;" Kuyo began the briefing "Survival Day for the second years is tomorrow and because of all these masked abominations attacking we must provide security for the students. At no time are any of you to assist a student with the tasks assigned to them unless one of those damned creatures attacks them…"

"There called Hollows" Eiyu corrected him.

"It doesn't matter what those things are called;" Keito spat at him "they bleed so they can be killed."

The spider woman was still furious that she had been defeated so easily by the freshmen and wasn't going to let it go any time soon. The Fraccion nearly broke her jaw with the punch he hit her with; she considered herself lucky that her bone didn't fracture at all.

"Hold your tongue or lose it Keito" Kuyo warned "what do you know about these 'Hollows'?" as he looked at Eiyu.

"If you just cut off a limb, it'll grow back. When you attack one, you need to aim for their mask;" as he remembered what Zaraki-taichou told him "otherwise it's a waste."

"What are their attack patterns?"

"Do they hunt in groups?"

"How large do they get?"

The questions kept coming as everyone's curiosity built from just a simple statement. Some of the members that are going to apart of the security detail had never truly seen a Hollow; they'd either just miss it, or lose track of it before seeing one. The questions didn't let up for a split second and he couldn't get a single word in before the next question was asked.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kuyo shouted in anger as he slammed his hand on the table "HE WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS AFTER THE BRIEFING! UNTIL THEN KEEP QUIET!"

Everyone fell silent.

"The area that the second years will be going to is close to Paradise;" as he rubbed his temples "because of the close proximity to such a dangerous place, will might also need to protect the weaker students from the inhabitants of Paradise. Under no circumstance are any of you to kill a creature that lives in Paradise;" as his eyes narrowed "is that clear?"

"Hai;" everyone in the room said in sync.

"Good."

The rest of the briefing showed who was going to be covering what areas of the place they were going to be at. The weaker members were in teams of two or three and covered a relatively small area; while stronger members had a larger area to cover and worked solo or with a single weaker person. Kuyo was covering most of the west of the bus stop and was going to be working alone; no surprise there. Keito and her 'allies', slaves, were covering what was left of the west. Several others got to the east and south with a few pushing into the northern direction of the area.

"Kenpachi will cover the rest of the northern area;" Kuyo concluded.

"WHAT?" a few shouted out in protest.

"He's a freshman!" Keito spat.

"Can any of you single handedly force me to fight in my hybrid form?" as he glared at the ones that were questioning him "as I recall, none of you can cause any real damage to me; hardly even a bruise for a select few of you. Kenpachi not only forced me into my hybrid form, but went almost toe to toe with me. Unless there are some of you hiding your true power and making the Safety Committee look like a joke;" as he flared his youki "I didn't think so" hearing no one speak up "there will also be sensei that are at least of S-rank strength there as well as a precaution should anything come up. Any questions?"

No one said anything else; they could see that their leader was already in a foul mood and didn't want to risk making it worse. The last time he was in this bad of a mood, many ended up in the infirmary for several days.

"Dismissed" the Kitsune said as he got up.

-?-

Fujisaki sat reading the file that he finally managed to open; Aizen always did make things complex but simple at the same time. The only thing he didn't predict was the failsafe that was on the seal; his eyes moved to his heavily bandaged hand. The pain still lingered in his entire arm, but he would deal with that later; right now he had to focus on creating a new Hogyoku as quick as possible. From what he had learned so far, Aizen was only able to create half of a Hogyoku and took the other half from Urahara after it was hidden in Kuchiki Rukia. He let out a sigh; Aizen was much smarter than him and could only create half of the almost godly gem. The odds of him being able to create one that would be a counterpart to Aizen's were extremely low.

He poured a cup of warm herbal tea and drank some along with some medicine that would help his arm heal. The medicine was similar to Szayel's created Fraccion, namely because the pink haired Arrancar made it himself, in the sense that it was similar in the effects. The medicine would heal the body on a level that would prevent any scars from forming. It wasn't going to be as fast as Szayel healed when he ate one of his Fraccion, because Fujisaki was a living being and couldn't handle the contents of the Fraccion, but it was better than having a burned up arm for a year while it healed. He never would've thought that he would need to be taking the medicine that the scientist Arrancar made, but was glad that Szayel made it.

Another sigh escaped him as he began to realize that he was going to have to think on a level that would surpass Aizen. He'd have to come up with a plan to either trick Urahara Kisuke into making another half of the Hogyoku or make it himself. The latter seemed far more likely to happen than being able to trick someone of Urahara's intelligence.

"Welcome back; Harribel" he said as he heard a Garganta open in front of him "I take it your search went well?"

He looked over the top of the file to see the blonde Arrancar, with her arms crossed underneath her bust like always, and an Arrancar he didn't recognize. She had light purple hair with a rabbit Hollow mask on her head, which reminded him of Nel, red eyes, and a more feminine face than he was expecting. She also wore a long dress that showed her flat stomach but covered her chest like Loly's outfit did, only a little less revealing. Her zanpakuto was a staff that had two golden blades on the top that came together to make a heart and had what could be best described as a flame looking piece in between the two blades.

"I was unsuccessful in finding an Arrancar with the skills you requested;" she said as she stepped out of the rift with another Arrancar "however, I found an Arrancar that Aizen-sama created to attack Karakura Town. She failed and fled back into Hueco Mundo; she was assisting in the attempted conquering of Las Noches. Although I am still curious as to how she failed when Aizen-sama gave her a fortress of Hollow;" as she glared at the rabbit like Arrancar out the corner of her eye.

"There was a group of people with high levels of reiatsu;" the purple haired Arrancar said "then…" with fear in both her eyes and voice "there was _that_ woman."

The memories of what the red haired woman did haunted her still. She will never tell anyone about anything that happened that day other than she was lucky to get enough of an opening to create a Garganta to escape the deranged lesbian. It was obvious that the shiver that went up her spine was noticed by the man reading the file when he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Who exactly are you?"

This question obviously hit a nerve in Harribel; her eyes narrowed at the younger Arrancar and Fujisaki could feel a slight increase in her reiatsu. The one thing that she always required of those weaker than her was respect; even when it wasn't directed towards her, but rather those that were stronger.

"That is a fair question;" Fujisaki said as he put the file in his hands down "however," with a tone that could match Gin's "it's rude to ask someone their name and not give your own."

"My name is Fujimura Ayumi;" the rabbit Arrancar said (I know she was unnamed in the anime and she made no appearance in the manga, so I just used the name of the person that voiced her) "Aizen-sama turned me into an Arrancar to lead the Giant Hollow Fortress to attack Karakura Town."

"I'm Fujisaki Miyabi;" the red haired man said "I could tell you my story, but we are a little pressed for time; so all I shall tell you is that Aizen-sama used the Hogyoku to enhance my abilities. Right now there is a place rich with spirit particles, but every Hollow we have sent so far has failed to come back. Eventually we employed a few Living to lend a hand, but what we learned from that, well;" as he looked at his Shikigami and it started projecting images "there are shinigami in this area;" as an image of Tsukune was shown "we know that tomorrow will give us an opening to gather the most reliable information. You will go to Yokai Academy and gather as much information as you can while we have this opening."

"Hai" Ayumi said with a bow.

The rabbit Arrancar was thankful for the second chance she was being given. When the blonde Arrancar located her, she thought she was going to be killed the second she stepped out of the Garganta. Then with, very few words, she learned that Aizen was going to be freed and Las Noches was going to be under his control again.

-Tsukune-

The would-be Visored sat in the massive underground training area with Bloodriver laying across his lap. After Soifon had told him that it looked like his blade was glowing because of his reiatsu, he has been trying to enter his mindscape on his own so he could talk with his zanpakuto. While something told him that it was his instincts that led his zanpakuto to glow during the fight, he wanted to know for sure and ask for help from Bloodriver to learn how to control those instincts. The fact that he was willing to kill the Kitsune that was now his superior worried him, but that was probably what allowed him to join the Safety Committee.

So far he hasn't had any luck in being able to enter his mindscape to talk with Bloodriver. He remembered that it looked like Yokai Academy, but he wasn't sure about how to get to his mindscape on his own; after all, Bloodriver had always pulled him into it prior to him trying. He remembered that there was a lecture during his zanpakuto class about meditation being the key to entering one's mindscape. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and tried to relax so he could try again in a few minutes; having a clear mind was hard considering everything that was going on. Between keeping the appearance of his alias, going on patrols, training with Soifon, Grimmjow, and Rangiku, and now being a member of the Safety Committee; his work load was getting pretty heavy.

"Is there something you wish to talk to me about, Tsukune?" he heard a familiar voice ask him.

His eyes shot open and he saw he was sitting in the middle of the court yard of what appeared to be Yokai Academy. The woman that was once called Nosferatu standing a little ways away from him with her usual warm smile on her face. He felt bad that he hasn't been talking with the pink haired vampire over the past week, but she was always with him.

"Hai;" as he got up and looked around slightly confused "how did I…?"

"You finally relaxed both your mind and body to the point where you could tune everything else out;" the Shinso answered "given the amount of stress you are under, I believe you did rather well for your first time" with a reassuring smile.

She couldn't be any more honest in her comment. It normally took a shinigami a few days of meditation to enter their mindscape, but because she had pulled Tsukune into it prior to his attempting on his own he was able to do it easier. The faith she had in her wielder was the same that she put in anyone she called her ally; which is why she allowed him to enter his mindscape on his own.

"Thanks, Bloodriver-chan" as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"What is it you wished to ask?" as she led him to a table near the food court.

"Soifon-chan said that your blade was glowing when I was fighting Kuyo; how did I do that?"

The gentle look in Bloodriver's eyes vanished as she looked away from her wielder. She knew how he did it, but it hurt her that he could not hear her voice because his instincts we taking control of him.

"You listened to your instincts;" she answered in a tone of voice that showed something was bothering her "that is what allowed you to fight with the necessary mindset to be on par with Kuyo."

"What's wrong Bloodriver-chan?"

"When you battled Kuyo," as she rolled up her sleeve "you began to put too much reiatsu into my blade and" as she showed Tsukune the burns on her right arm "it hurt. I tried to tell you, but you couldn't hear my voice."

Tsukune's eyes went wide when he saw the mixed first and second degree burns on his zanpakuto spirit's arm. He felt horrible that he couldn't hear Bloodriver try to get him to stop, and he hurt her.

"I… I…I'm sorry Bloodriver-chan;" he managed to say "I didn't…"

"It is alright Tsukune-kun;" cutting him off "you were focused on your fight and…"

"That doesn't make it alright!" he snapped "you and I are a team; I should've tried harder to control myself."

"Tsukune-kun;" she said in a firm voice "I have taken injuries far worse than this mere burn. I have been sliced in half and made a full recovery in a matter of minutes; do not think, for even a second, that this simple injury will make me become upset with you. I know why it is taking longer than it should to heal, but that is not important at the moment. Let us continue with the reason you are here" as she rolled her sleeve back down.

"Hai," in a sad tone "I guess I'd like to learn more about you while I'm here and see if you could give me some advice on how to control my reiatsu when I fight so I don't hurt you again."

"Learning to control your instincts will not be easy;" as she poured a cup of tea "however, it is just a matter of accepting them for what they are and not letting them cloud your judgment during a battle. You have already taken the first step by acknowledging that they exist within you, but to truly control them you must do more than that. Your instincts will always push you to find new battles, to become stronger, and possibly even kill opponents; you must search within yourself to find a reason to harness those instincts and to use them in a manner that is proper. Should you ever question why you are fighting, you could lose yourself to your instincts."

"A… reason to… harness my instincts?" with a confused tone as he looked at the vampiress.

"Hai; you have done this once before, but I will not tell you how you did it. It is you who must discover your reason for fighting; while I know the answer, you would learn nothing if I simply told you."

"**He's so fuckin' pathetic he'll never figure it out"** his hollow side spat as he came into view.

Tsukune looked at his hollow and could see that his darker half had been training somehow as sweat rolled down his forehead. He wasn't sure with what though; Ghoul didn't have a zanpakuto, and he didn't see any damage that would suggest kido or cero.

"**He's so fuckin' stupid that he thinks that ya only use blood on the blade to heal his wounds;"** as he shook his head **"you ain't my zanpakuto and I know more about yer abilities than he does. Tsk, what a joke."**

"That is quite enough Ghoul;" Bloodriver said as she flared her reiatsu at the white skinned boy "it would be wise that you take mind and leave before I feel it necessary to silence you" with both a serious tone and look in her eyes.

"**Whatever;"** as he walked towards the Monster Tree **"I'm gonna take another nap."**

All he could really do was train, nap, and read poetry; since he had already read everything that Tsukune had checked out of the library and read, which only left training and napping. He had no problems training and sleeping, but after a while it was rather dull and repetitive which made it hard for him to motivate himself to do anything. Sure he could train with cero and kido, but that would cause damage to the mindscape that resembled the place he hated to the core; which could end up causing Bloodriver to attack him.

"What did he mean by I think that you only use blood to heal my wounds?" Tsukune asked as he watched Ghoul jump up the Monster Tree.

Bloodriver looked at her wielder and knew that this was going to be a hard conversation for her; even harder for Tsukune since she would have to reveal information about when he was alive. Deep down she feared he would be angry that she kept things from him, but she knew what she knew could possibly be biased on the fact that Moka is her daughter and Tsukune and the silver haired vampire were once close friends.

"Tsukune-kun;" she began "I know you will become upset with me, but please refrain from speaking until I am finished telling you what I must." Tsukune nodded. "It is true that when you were alive, you and Akashiya Moka were good friends; almost inseparable. I will not tell you everything, but I will tell you this much; after you were first killed by Kuyo, Moka injected you with her blood to bring you back to life. Just as Ghoul has informed you, that is how he was born; this was the first of a number of blood injections you received from Moka.

Due to the fact that your body had become accustomed to using someone else's blood to enhance your strength, I gained a similar ability when I became your zanpakuto. In the vampiric tongue, you were becoming a Chi no Kenja, or, as the Japanese translate it, Blood Sage; which means that you could use the blood of someone to not only heal yourself but the excess would allow you to gain abilities of the person the blood belonged to. Because I became your zanpakuto, and a zanpakuto is a part of the shinigami that wields it, I was able to become a Chi no Kenja. Of course the abilities that you gain through the excess blood will be modified to become something else entirely. How much do you remember from the night that Muramasa manifested me?"

"Not much;" trying to hold his questions "after Ichigo and I left you and Zangetsu-san, Ichigo taught me a quick lesson in fighting and then…" his hand subconsciously moved to the base of his neck.

"When Ghoul took over you," she continued "he battled Ichigo-kun with the blade in your sash. Normally I would have rejected him from even being permitted to touch the hilt with ill-intent, but because I was not within you I could not. I am unsure about everything that happened, but I do know this;" as she crossed her legs "with the amount of blood that was on the blade, and with how little damage he took, I know that at least one ability of Ichigo-kun's was absorbed into us; for Ichigo-kun and Tensa-kun it is called the Getsuga Tensho. However, for you and me it is called"

Tsukune couldn't hear what Bloodriver said, but he knew it had to be important.

"I see;" as she noticed Tsukune's confusion "eventually you will be able to hear the name and use the attack. You must learn to control your instincts to be able to hear the name of the attack and use it" as she took a drink of tea.

"Why's that Bloodriver-chan?"

"Because it is your instinct that will tell you the name of the attack;" placing the cup back on the table "it is also your instinct that will allow you to use the attack because you will know what is required to perform it. Please feel free to ask your questions now."

"You said that Chi no Kenja was vampiric;" Bloodriver nodded "does that mean you're a vampire?"

"Hai; I was born a vampire many centuries ago, nine and a half to be precise" with a smile as she remembered her younger years "I was the only child of my family because of the difficulty that vampires experience to conceive a child. When I turned of age, which is seventy for vampires, I was given the blood line of the Shinso vampire; which had made me stronger than most other vampires on the planet. I spent thirty years training to control the Shinso blood that was running through my veins."

"You hardly look thirty" Tsukune said in surprise.

"Thank you Tsukune-kun;" with a slight blush "vampires age in a similar manner to shinigami; the more youki we have the slower we age. If you look at Yamamoto-kun he looks to be in his sixties or seventies, but in reality he is older than myself. He never told me his exact age;" as she tapped her chin with her finger "I would personally guess that he is at least a millennium and a half old."

"You know Yamamoto-sou-taichou!" in complete disbelief.

"Hai;" with a soft smile "he was one of the many that battled against the oldest and most powerful of vampires; the only one that was born of the Shinso blood. His name is unimportant to you, but he sought to destroy humanity and nearly succeeded had it not been for Tensa-kun, myself, and others. Every species lost many in that long week;" as sadness filled her eyes.

She remembered the countless bodies that littered the ground as she began the campaign against Alucard. Young, old, male, female; it didn't matter to the monster, if you didn't get out of his path, you were dead.

"What does Nosferatu mean?" trying to get her mind off the time she was remembering.

"Nosferatu is a title that cannot be a self-proclaimed one like the name Kenpachi;" she explained "for even a vampire to earn the title is not only a great accomplishment, but a great honor. It is a title that only three vampires before myself had earned in our twenty millennium history. It is a title that is given to those whom are willing to die to protect the world from an evil that goes potentially unrivaled except by that of the future. The name Nosferatu means 'one that is truly unbeatable' in the vampiric tongue;" as she looked at Tsukune "and being truly unbeatable doesn't mean you won't lose a battle that means nothing. No, to become truly unbeatable means to never lose when the battle holds great weight; when countless lives are at stake and knowing that if you fail, everyone will die."

"How does it feel;" he asked "having the title, I mean?"

"It means nothing to me;" she said bluntly "to me the only name I allow others to address me as is my birth name. At least until we become friends, then they are free to call me by my first name."

"What is your first name?"

"You will learn that when you achieve bankai;" with a comforting smile "which shouldn't take you any more than a year at the rate you are progressing."

"Thanks" with a sheepish smile "I have great sensei. Grimmjow-san can be tough to learn from, but he learned through fighting so it makes sense that he teaches that way. Rangiku-chan has been great with helping me learn to control my reiatsu; even though she makes me drink when I fail. Yachiru-chan, well;" as he scratched the back of his head "is Yachiru-chan, she helps where she can and I'm thankful for that."

"And Soifon-taichou?" with a smile.

"Soifon-chan's a bit of a slave driver, but I know that she means well. She saved me from those Hollows in the Rukongai districts, offered to teach me how to fight on my own, and well…" as he blushed.

"You think she is attractive;" the vampire finished "there is no need to be surprised" as she saw the look on his face "I am your zanpakuto and I am fully aware of your emotions."

"**SHE SEEMS TO BE THE TYPE THAT'LL PUT UP WITH BEING ON TOP FOR THE FIRST TIME;"** they heard Ghoul shout **"THEN SHE'D BE SUBMISSIVE THE ENTIRE TIME."**

"That was uncalled for;" Bloodriver sighed "is there anything else you wish to talk about?"

Tsukune looked at Bloodriver's right arm; it was burned because of him, and he wanted to make it right.

"Please drink some of my blood;" he said firmly.

This caught Bloodriver completely off guard. She was expecting him to have more questions about when she was alive, or her battle with Alucard, or even just to talk about random things. If anything, she was expecting him to ask how many times he had been injected with Moka's blood. She never would've suspected him to say that; especially since he remembered that Moka would randomly drink his blood without asking.

"I know that vampires heal faster when they drink blood;" he continued as he walked over to her "it's my fault your arm got burnt, so please" as he showed her his neck "drink what you need to heal."

"Thank you" as she stood up and gently bit into his neck.

-Real World-

A black feline watched the meditating brown haired boy; she was going to go ahead and admit she was impressed. He had not only gained Shikai in an unheard of record, but he was able to communicate with his zanpakuto in his mindscape. The boy's breathing was steady, relaxed, and more importantly controlled; except for the sharp breath he took in as his mouth twitched a little. Her eyes narrowed as she watched for any signs that his Hollow was taking over. If the boy had gone to his mindscape to fight his darker self, then she was going to be the only one here to keep his Hollowfying body from running ramped through the academy grounds.

She remembered helping the Visoreds when they first fought against their Hollows to gain control of their powers; longest month of her life. One would face their Hollow, leaving the others to fight their Hollowfying body, they'd get three days to recover and start all over with the next one.

"Looks like he's coming out of his meditation;" she said to herself as Tsukune took a deep breath in.

She watched as Tsukune rubbed the base of his neck and had a small smile on his face.

"Did something interesting happen between you and your zanpakuto Tsukune?" she teased.

Tsukune jumped out of his skin and backed into the nearest boulder in an attempt to follow the fight or flight response. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked at the black cat, who seemed to be smiling at what he had just done. As his heart started to slow down, he began to remember the cat from the Seireitei.

"Yoruichi-san?" he asked as his mouth finally began to work.

"Don't call me san;" she sighed "it makes me feel like an old lady."

"Huh… makes you…" in a very confused tone "feel like an… old lady?"

"I'm insulted;" she fake pouted "you've seen me in my human form and you don't even remember me. I thought you were nicer to women."

Tsukune quickly tried to remember everyone he had seen in the Seireitei. Nemu, fuku-taichou of the Twelfth Division. Unohana, taichou of the Fourth Division and her fuku-taichou Isane. Rangiku, he knew she was a fuku-taichou but wasn't sure about which Division. Soifon, taichou of the Second Division. Yachiru, fuku-taichou of the Eleventh Division. Nel and Orihime, two of Ichigo's friends. And he remembered a dark skinned woman from the morning he woke up in the Fourth Division after going out drinking; that's her!

"Now I remember;" with a sheepish laugh "sorry about that. I guess it's just been a while."

"It's alright;" with a smile "so what happened between you and your zanpakuto?"

"I hurt her yesterday because of my reiatsu;" in a said tone "her right arm was burned. When I found out she's a vampire, I told her to drink some of my blood so she could heal."

"That explains why your mouth twitched;" making the connection easily "I'd rather continue our conversation in my human form" as her body began to glow and smoke surrounded the area "ah…" with a stretch "much better."

Tsukune got a severe nose bleed from the sight of Yoruichi's naked body. Her entire body was nothing but lean muscle just like Soifon's; the only difference was that the chocolate skinned woman in front of him had more of it. The purple hair that went to her waist line went perfectly with her golden, cat like eyes. The Neko had large breasts that looked so firm they could be used as pillows for the entire night.

"That was a better reaction than Ichigo's" she laughed loudly.

"Could you please cover up?" he asked as he lay on his back with his nose still bleeding.

"I would;" with a shrug "but I didn't bring my clothes down here."

Tsukune closed his eyes and untied his sash. Yoruichi's eyes narrowed on the large X scar on his chest as he took his top off and tossed it to her. Just by looking at that one scar, she could tell he was a lot like Ichigo; other than having a Hollow. As she put the top on, she saw even more, smaller scars on his body; each one in a place that should've killed a normal human. The kidneys, chest and back, points on the body that would cause anyone to bleed to death; however, something told her that those wounds weren't what killed him.

"You can open your eyes now" as she tied the sash around her waist.

Tsukune opened his eyes to see the older woman covered up, just barely because of her massive chest and the fact that his top was a medium when she looked like she needed a large. He noticed her eyeing him in a way he wasn't used to seeing.

"Are you alright Yoruichi-chan?"

"Just admiring your scar;" with a cat like smile "I've never seen one quiet like it" as she shunpo in front of him kneeling down to examine it better "looks like they were made at the same time. What kind of hell did you put yourself through here?"

"I can't remember" as he looked to the side.

"But Ghoul does?" as her eyes narrowed at him.

Tsukune's eyes shot open in surprise at what he just heard. Yoruichi knew about his Hollow…

"How…"

"Bee told me;" as she stood up, put her finger on his chest and her voice turned serious "she has never expressed concern for anyone other than me until she asked me to inform the Visoreds about you, and I look at the girl like the daughter I can never have. This will be your one and only warning;" as her eyes narrowed "if she gets hurt because of you, I don't care if you have Shikai, bankai, a Hollow, or even if Yamamoto tries to stop me. I. Will. Kill. You."

"H-h-hai" he managed to say.

There was nothing in the dark skinned woman's tone or eyes that suggested she was messing around on any level. She was dead serious about ending him if he hurt Soifon; which he was fine since he had absolutely no intention to hurt the petite taichou.

"I'm glad we understand each other;" with her normal playful smile "I saw that Bee taught you Utsusemi. That's not something that can be done easily; yet you did it in a gigai. How'd you manage it?"

It took her fifty years to be able to use the ability, and this kid can't even use shunpo yet manages to create the sonido equivalent of Utsusemi in one try. If that wasn't an indication that he took his training seriously, she didn't know what was. The one thing Soifon always liked was when someone took their training seriously and showed the results quickly.

"Well… Soifon-taichou…"

"I already know you've called her chan;" with a sigh "besides I already know you have feelings for her."

There were those two things, and she hated formalities; even when Soifon called her sama, which often annoyed her but she let the girl continue to call her that. Just another reason she got along so well with Kisuke, he never once called said her name in a formal manner when he didn't need to. The only time he ever called her taichou was during the Taichou Meetings, which he had only had three before they defected from the Seireitei.

"Soifon-chan has had me keep up with her after she teaches me Hakuda;" as he hung his head low "I can barely keep track of her, let alone keep up."

"She's the second fastest shinigami in the Seireitei; only I'm faster than her" in a bored tone "so if you can't keep up it's no big deal. The only one that can probably stand a chance at keeping up with her is Ichigo with his bankai."

-The next morning-

Tsukune stood looking at the large forest that he was going to be patrolling for the entire day; he could hear several roars, growls and other noises that would scare anyone. He took a deep breath and walked into the forest; he had no reason to be afraid since he was out of his gigai. Soifon wasn't too happy about him leaving his gigai in his room; she found out when she saw the bandages he used to wrap up his torso and hand. Said taichou was ready to pulverize him for disobeying their order to remain in their gigai unless the need arose. His unbandaged hand played with his necklace; one of the two things keeping his reiatsu from being detected. The second was the skills that Rangiku had taught him in keeping it suppressed.

"I guess today's going to take a while;" as he looked up at the sky.

The next hour was uneventful; a few creatures that lived in Paradise started to become curious about him and began stalking him like prey. He easily fixed the problem with a small flare of his reiatsu to let them know he was stronger than he looked and they backed away. The only real problem he had was when a low level hollow appeared and tried to attack one of the creatures that live in Paradise; he killed the Hollow and was now back on patrol. Little did he realize that deeper in the area he was patrolling, a Garganta was being ripped open and a purple haired Arrancar stepped out.

"Damn it;" Ayumi said as she saw she was in the wrong area "I missed the target area. Oh-well" as she looked around "they said to gather information, so I shall; for Aizen-sama!"

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Hanataro stepped out of the Senkaimon and looked at the odd mansion in front of him. The gothic style began to make him shake, even more so since there were headstones only twenty feet away from him. He closed his eyes and focused on the reason he was here; to deliver the results of all the blood work to one Aono Tsukune, aka Kenpachi Eiyu. Unohana had requested this of him since he always enjoyed going to the Living World, but this wasn't the Living World he was used to seeing.

"Just find Eiyu-san, deliver the results, explain anything he needs explained and go back to the Clinic" he said to himself as he started to walk towards the mansion "it's tough getting used to a gigai again;" with a slight chuckle.

He suddenly heard something roar in pain. When he looked at the source, he saw what he could only describe as some sort of mix between a porcupine, dog, and bull; whose tail he had just stepped on. The creature looked at him and snorted a puff of air at him before pulling its tail from underneath his foot and crouching low at him.

"Nice dog-thing…" Hanataro said while shaking "it… it was an… an accident; I didn't see you there" the creature snorted again before charging at him "I'M SORRY!" he shouted as he began running for his life.

-Kokoa-

The red head vampire was currently training so she could pound the daylights out of the Fraccion when he returned from Survival Day. It seemed like no matter how hard she trained, she could never do anything that would either piss the Fraccion off or actually hurt him; which was pissing her off like no tomorrow.

"Why can't I be as strong as you Onee-sama?" she asked in an angry tone as she smashed another tree with Kyo as a large war-hammer.

If she was as strong as her Onee-sama she would be able to force Kenpachi into a fight, but she wasn't. It was a harsh fact that she had accepted long ago, but instead of crying about it she decided to use it to fuel her so she could get stronger. That was something Moka had told her; if you have time to cry, you have time to train. Those words never left her heart, and they never will; they were the best advice that anyone had ever given her.

She heard someone screaming for help and looked towards the noise; she saw a boy with shoulder length black hair running towards her. He was wearing what looked like a male nurse's outfit, white shoes, and had a bag on his back.

"PLEASE HELP ME!" he begged as he continued to run closer to her.

Kokoa just sighed as she reared Kyo back and took a powerful swing just as the boy cleared her swing radius. The hit sent the porcupine soaring through the sky and into the courtyard of the academy.

"Thank you;" he said as he panted for air "I thought that thing was going to kill me."

"Whatever;" she spat as she had Kyo morph into a katana before she went through some attacks.

"Um…" he said hesitantly.

"What?"

Her tone made Hanataro jump a little; she was just as cruel as everyone that bullied him in the Shinigami Academy.

"I'm Yamada Hanataro;" he said with a small bow.

"Shuzen Kokoa" as she attacked another tree.

She was already starting to become annoyed by the boy; if he was smart he'd just leave and not continue to bother her. She was already in a bad mood and didn't want to put up with anyone right now.

"Shuzen-san; you wouldn't happen to know a Kenpachi Eiyu?"

That question made her lose her grip on Kyo, who went flying into a gravestone, and trip on a small rock that sent her face first into the ground. That name was the source of her anger, and this 'Yamada Hanataro' was looking for the Fraccion; only another reason to beat him into the ground.

"Are you alright Shuzen-san?" Hanataro asked as he quickly rushed to help her up.

A hand quickly grabbed his throat as he got within arm's reach of the red head. His eyes widened when he saw the reiatsu the girl was emitting, along with a killer intent.

"What do you want with that weakling?" she asked in a very dark tone.

"I have test results…" his voice shaking.

"Give them to me" she demanded.

This was just what she needed to find a weakness on Kenpachi. Medical records were the Holy Grail of secrets when it came to keeping something secret. If she got her hands on those, she would be able to not only bring down Kenpachi but completely destroy him.

"I can't do that; Doctor-patient confidentiality."

"I said give them here!" as she reached for the bag on his back.

Whoever this kid was, he was stronger than he looked; he was able to hold her back enough to prevent her from grabbing a hold of his bag. The bag that held the golden secrets of test results that Kenpachi had; she had to have it!

"I can't" as he struggled to fight against her vampiric strength.

"Kyo!" she ordered "Morningstar!"

"Hai-hai!" the bat said as he changed back into his chibi form, flew over to Kokoa and turn into the desired weapon.

"I SAID 'GIVE 'EM HERE'!" in anger as she swung the Morningstar at Hanataro, who barely dodged.

"SOMEONE SAVE ME!" he cried as he ran towards the spooky mansion again with Kokoa hot on his tail.

-Ruby-

The witch had finally managed to get all the work she had done and was taking a relaxing walk; or so she thought. She heard several crashes, along with trees falling to the ground, in the distance. At first she didn't think anything of it because she knew that's the direction Kokoa often trained in; then the crashes started coming closer and closer.

"PLEASE SAVE ME!" a boy cried out as he ran from an irate Kokoa.


	21. Chapter 21

Tsukune quickly used sonido to appear at the bus stop to check in with Kuyo and show the students they did have protection if they needed it. Other than the one Hollow that showed up earlier, he hadn't had to really fight anything; which gave him time to think about what Bloodriver had told him. Mainly about how to control his instincts; he couldn't think of how he managed to control that primal drive before. As he thought back to every fight he's been in up until his conversation with Bloodriver, he could only think of a few times that he felt stronger, faster and could block pain from his mind. The two fights that he remembered being able to do that was when the fight actually mattered; when he was fighting the Hollow Ghoul called Midou, and when he was fighting Kurotsuchi-taichou. He stopped in his tracks; that's when he gained his zanpakuto and his Shikai. Both times he was fighting to protect someone.

"I… fight to protect" he said as he closed his eyes with a smile.

He knew Bloodriver was smiling at him because he had just found the reason he fights; which is the same reason he can use to harness his instincts. Now everything would become simpler for him; he wasn't going to have to question why he was fighting. Now also came the hard part of controlling his instincts.

'_**You just went up a notch in my book;'**_ Ghoul said bluntly _**'perhaps yer not as pathetic as I thought.'**_

Before he could say anything back to his dark self, he felt an unfamiliar reiatsu approaching him. His body reacted on instinct as he rolled out of the way just in time to see a staff crash down where he was once standing. He was expecting to see another low level Hollow, but he was completely shocked when he saw a purple haired woman instead. His eyes widened when he saw the mask fragment on her head; an Arrancar.

-Grimmjow-

The panther Arrancar grabbed a hold of the Hollow that charged at him and took a bit out of it. He finally could eat a Hollow and begin to restore his strength; only eating Living World food had been fine for a while, but because he is an Arrancar he needs to eat something with reiatsu to be at full strength.

"Just one or two more like you;" as he wiped his mouth "and I'll be back at full strength" with a snicker as he ripped a piece of the Hollow's mask off and ate it.

The hollow howled in pain as it was defenseless against the Arrancar that was devouring it. Its blood sprayed onto the ground as it tried to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. The black blood continued to ooze out as its attacker took another bite out of its flesh. Grimmjow quickly ripped out the Hollow's throat and snapped its neck in one motion. Ever since he met Shizuka, his temper has seemed to go down; which was weird for him. He has always been used to just lashing out at anyone that tried to look down to him, but lately he hasn't; not even to that Youko that 'suggested', threatened to hurt Shizuka if he didn't, that he assist in the security detail.

"I'll kick that pricks ass after I'm done here;" as he continued to eat the dead Hollow.

He looked in the direction of the Kitsune that had a god complex like Aizen does. The bastard also had the unfortunate pleasure of reminding him of Nnoirta, and he was going to knock this guy down several pegs. The panther finished eating the Hollow and noticed that his shirts had blood all over it; he sighed as he pulled the shirts off and simply threw them on the ground before continuing his patrol/hunt.

"What the fuck is this?" as he picked up a weird looking plant that had several mouths on it with tongues sticking out.

After he gave it a few sniffs, he shrugged and bit into the fruit.

-Bus-

The students walked off the bus and looked at the large forest in awe as members of the Safety Committee started returning from their initial patrol. The trees had leaves that were multiple colors, creating a large beautiful sea that could be seen from above. The wind blew some of the loose leave from the branches that held them and towards the students.

"Can everyone hear me?" Nekonome-sensei asked "good! Today is our Survival Day;" she began "today's task is to survive while doing the challenge. As you all know, living alongside humans can mean having to hide in a forest for safety. This year's challenge is:" everyone waited with anticipation "A Fruit Hunt!"

Rangiku quickly became confused.

"A fruit hunt?" she asked Kurumu "what's the point of that?"

"The winner will be decided by the rarity of the fruits brought back;" Shizuka continued "this is the rarest fruit out here;" as she held up a blood red flesh looking fruit that had several mouths with tongues swaying back and forth "it's called a Durian. It is such a rare fruit because of how difficult it is to harvest. The aroma is powerful, distinctive and can drive the sense of smell crazy;" as she cut the fruit in half "note the crimson color of the inside, that's how you tell it's nice an ripe," the smell caught her nose "it truly is one of nature's genuine treasures;" as she picked it up and quickly devoured the fruit with a large smile on her face.

Rangiku had a worried look on her face; the fruit looked creepy to her, it smelled like aged blood and looked like raw meat. It made her stomach turn in a way that made her feel nauseous.

"That thing's really a fruit?" she asked her friend again.

She was surprised to see that, not only Kurumu, but every one of the succubus' friends had a little drool coming from the corner of their mouths while starring at the weird fruit. Well, almost every one of her friends; Moka was just eyeing the red thing and gulped as the smell of blood reached her nose. To them the supposed fruit was like a deliciously, to Rangiku it looked disgusting; something about those tongue looking things made her shiver. She had no intention of going after that creepy thing; no matter what the prize is.

"The winner of the fruit hunt will get a full day's pass to go to the human world and have fun;" the feline sensei chimed as she finished the fruit "it can be used whenever you wish and is an excused absence from any classes you'd miss."

"I'm going after it!" Kurumu, Moka, Yukari, Mizore and even Rangiku shouted before locking eyes that showed the challenge was accepted.

"No need to fight over the pass;" Nekonome said as her tail swayed behind her "you can also take a friend with you should you win the hunt."

Electricity could be seen coming from each of the women that had locked gazes; each one had already decided who they'd take with if they won. Rangiku was going to take Ginnei and have fun shopping in various mall stores with him. Yukari was going to take Yachiru and practically buy out every candy shop they could. Mizore was going to ask Eiyu if he wanted to go with her to a snow covered mountain; if not then she'd take Kurumu and hang out with her. Kurumu had the same idea as Mizore, only instead of a mountain she'd want to go to a beach; unless he couldn't, then she'd take Mizore and go somewhere the yuki-ona could stand. Moka wasn't going to give Eiyu a choice; she was going to make him spend a full day with her and was going to either confirm or deny his actual identity.

"Due to the recent attacks on campus;" she continued "our Safety Committee has been kind enough to provide protection should the need come up. Please remember that they hold the ability to have discretion over what is 'the need'; so please be careful."

With that said, everyone took off running into the forest to begin their hunt. Kuyo looked around for any sign of Kenpachi, but didn't see him; he knew he was supposed to report back in when the bus arrived.

"Where is he?" he growled as he went back to his patrol route.

-Tsukune-

The shinigami leaned back and barely dodged another attack that came from the rabbit Arrancar. Her attacks were like Grimmjow's, all straight forward and easy to see; he didn't even think she could use sonido. He grabbed the staff as she swung at him again and flipped her over him and into a tree.

"DIE YOU DAMNED SHINIGAMI!" she shouted at him as she began to charge a cero at the tip.

Tsukune quickly drew his zanpakuto as the Arrancar's attack fired at him. The force began to push him back as he tried to hold his ground against the cero. He could feel Bloodriver begin to force reiatsu into him as he grit his teeth and pushed back against the red reiatsu based attack. With a load battle cry he threw the cero into the sky; the cero demolished the branches in its path as it gained altitude.

"That's… impossible…" Ayumi said in disbelief before growing angry "AIZEN-SAMA GAVE ME GREAT POWER. A LOWLY SHINIGAMI LIKE YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DEFLECT A CERO OF THAT STRENGTH!"

Tsukune didn't say anything as he breathed heavily; he had to focus on fighting to protect the students that would soon be here. If this Arrancar defeated him, there was no telling what she'd do; although she probably wouldn't get very far because Grimmjow as here and Rangiku was soon going to be, if she wasn't here already. He was surprised that Soifon wasn't asked to come to help with the security detail; she was easily stronger than him and Grimmjow. Then again, she was the only one of them on campus that could handle any Hollow that were to attack.

"You die here shinigami!" as she charged towards her opponent.

She swung her weapon at the shinigami and was blocked by his blade; what made her in angrier was the fact that he was only using one hand to hold his weapon.

"Stop messing around and fight me you filthy shinigami!" she shouted at him as she pushed him back.

"I thought we were fighting;" with a confused look on his face.

Ayumi kicked Tsukune across the face and sent him flying through the air. Tsukune was surprised at the strength she had; once second his feet were firmly on the ground, the next that was completely gone. He heard a static like boom and saw the female Arrancar with her staff ready to impale him. The rabbit Arrancar grinned as she watched the boy get closer to his death; that grin disappeared when he used sonido to get out of the way. A shinigami had just used sonido… that was her only thought as she tried to make sense of what she just witnessed. That was a bigger impossibility than someone deflecting a cero.

Tsukune reappeared over the Arrancar, bringing his zanpakuto down to make a clean slash across her back. He didn't feel right fighting a woman, but it was something he had to push aside; this Arrancar randomly attacked him and still aliened herself with Aizen. No matter what feelings he had about fighting a female, he had an obligation to the students to protect them and as a shinigami to prevent her from killing anyone. His blade rang out as the rabbit Arrancar used her staff to protect herself from the attack.

_K…tan_

He heard in his head; it wasn't complete, but something told him that it was the name of the attack Bloodriver had mentioned. So far he could still hear Bloodriver's voice, which meant that he was in control of his instincts so far, but it wasn't enough for him to hear the full name of the attack. Right now though, he wasn't concerned about learning the attack; while it would be nice, his focus was on preventing the Arrancar from being able to harm the students, who should be here by now.

"There here…" he said in disbelief as he felt several reiatsu signatures where the bus was at.

'_You must hurry to end this battle'_ Bloodriver told him.

Tsukune knew he couldn't afford to drag this fight out and risk letting someone hear the Arrancar call him a shinigami. That was the last thing he needed; for his alias as a Fraccion to be ruined and becoming exposed as who he really is. He knew he was already pushing his luck with the kido spells he used; Ruby had explained that Yukari would be able to easily find the information and connect the spells back to shinigami. From there the tiny witch would just look up shinigami and make the connection between that and him.

"Drink;" he said as he flipped his zanpakuto into a defensive manner "Bloodriver."

Bloodriver glowed red as the blade changed into its Shikai form and the white armor pieces appeared on his arm and shins. He could feel Bloodriver's strength flowing into him as he vanished with sonido and reappeared in front of the Arrancar with his zanpakuto mid swing. He didn't give her time to react as he sliced through her exposed stomach and followed up with a round house kick to her side. By attacking like this, he wasn't going to give the rabbit Arrancar time to recover and counter any of his attacks. Her blood dripped from his blade as he attacked again, only to be blocked by her staff.

"You'll pay for that shinigami!" she swore to him

"You wanted me to fight," he asked in a calm tone "and when I do you get upset?"

"SHINIGAMI ARE INFERIOR TO ARRANCAR!" she shouted at him while launching him backwards "AND I'LL PROVE IT!"

She swung her staff at him and cut his chest. Tsukune wasn't too surprised that his Hierro was broken; his opponent was an Arrancar and was also a part of Aizen's army. He barely dodged her next attack before she spun the staff over her head and brought the pointed end down on his left shoulder. Pain shot through his body as he felt his collar bone crack under the force; luckily the blood that was already on his blade began to be absorbed by Bloodriver and was being used to heal the injury. The female Arrancar followed up with another slice to his chest and kicking him through a tree. It was a good thing his Hierro was as strong as it was, otherwise he would've had a couple busted ribs or other bad injuries.

'_**Let me knock this bitch around for a while;'**_ he heard Ghoul say as he got back up.

'_No!'_ he shouted back at his dark half _'I don't need your help!'_

"Pay attention shinigami!" Ayumi snapped at him as she brought her staff down and tried to make a cut that would go from his shoulder to his opposite side waist.

Tsukune sonido out of the way and retaliated by kicking her in the back and sending her flying forwards.

"Hado Number Thirty One: Shakkaho!" as he held up his free hand and sent the spell to the Arrancar.

The fiery sphere hit its target dead on and exploded, leaving nothing but smoke around her making Tsukune question if that was enough to defeat her. He hoped it was so he wouldn't have to keep fighting, but it wasn't; he felt a powerful reiatsu coming from the female Arrancar that was almost fuku-taichou level.

"HOP: USAGIJOO!" she shouted as she released her Resurrection.

Pieces of the tree were kicked up and sent flying towards Tsukune; who used sonido to dodge the incoming wood. When the reiatsu finally stopped throwing things at him, he saw that the woman had changed from a human that looked like she had a rabbit mask on her head to a humanoid rabbit. Her legs were more muscular and resembled a cross between rabbit and human legs, her hands had turned into large rabbit paws that had even large nails sticking out that looked sharper than most swords, and her mask had grown a little now covering her forehead and the ears laid with her hair that was at the side of her face.

Before he could react she was behind him with her nails aimed to go through his spine. The nails ripped through him, or so she thought; he vanished with sonido, leaving only his top behind. He couldn't believe how much faster she was in this form; she wasn't as fast as Soifon, but she was still much faster than him. As he watched the female Arrancar throw his jacket aside, he was glad that he wrapped his torso up to hide the scar on his chest; as well as not being in his gigai. Had he been in his gigai, that attack of hers would've killed him.

The two combatants vanished with static like booms and zanpakuto met claw as they collided against each other in the middle. Neither one was willing to let up even in the slightest because they both knew that it would mean their death. Ayumi used her stronger leg muscles to push the shinigami backwards while using her free hand to make a decent sized cut across his chest. A grunt of pain escaped her opponent as blood sprayed from his wound and she used her entire body to force him onto the ground before she took to the air and began to charge a cero between her rabbit ears.

Tsukune charged his own cero and fired it just as the female Arrancar fired hers. His body couldn't take too much more before it gave out and if that happened… he knew Ghoul would take advantage of his weakened state and take over. He had to end this fight; to protect the students, himself, everyone. Suddenly, a sharp pain in his neck made itself known.

'_No…'_ he thought as he felt Bloodriver shocking his hand and forcing him to drop her.

"Still can't focus on the fight SHINIGAMI?" she shouted as she charged at him, her nails ready to take his head from his shoulders.

When her nails made contact with his neck, they stopped without the shinigami grabbing her arm. She heard his Shikai regress back into its sealed state, and saw a flame like tattoo grow across his neck and face.

-Meanwhile: Moka-

The S-rank vampire was enjoying watching several small animals fight over a piece of ripe fruit that had just fallen from a tree; there were two fluffy squirrels, a chipmunk, and a rabbit. A smile grew on her face as she reached up and picked another few pieces from the tree before tossing them to the small critters; the small animals stopped their brawl and each took a piece before running back to their homes. She always remembered the walks she'd take with her mother to go feed the small animals around the castle she once called home; it was her favorite activity to do with her mother.

She continued her search for a Durian fruit as she remembered the many hours they'd spend watching the numerous animals eat the fruits and vegetables they brought from the castle. Those days often made her the happiest she ever felt when she lived in that place.

"I wish I knew what happened to you mother;" she said with sadness.

She heard a loud explosion north of her and saw several animals running for their lives, and then she felt a massive wave of youki hit her. It was stronger than anything she's ever felt before and knocked the wind out of her as it forced her to the ground. It was extremely dark and she could literally feel the killer intent in it as it regressed from around her. She stayed how she was for a second to make sure there wasn't going to be a second wave of the powerful youki; deeming it safe, she rose to her feet and, with curiosity controlling her, started to head closer to the source.

-Grimmjow and Shizuka-

The panther had rounded up several of the odd fruit things he found after he killed and ate the Hollow. When he showed it to his feline friend, she squealed with excitement before taking one from him and cutting it up. After she cut it up, she told him that it was a Durian fruit; the rarest of fruits in the area.

"Hey;" he said to his feline friend with benefits "you said these things are hard to pick, but I grabbed fifteen without a problem. Why's that?"

"Well…" she began "the actual Durian fruit is a large plant that will eat anything that these lures bring to them. In the ocean, there's a fish that has a light on an antenna that it uses to lure prey to it so it can eat."

"That doesn't explain why it was so easy for me to grab these things;" as he began to eat another piece.

"It's like you described Hueco Mundo;" as she picked up another piece "if it senses that something that followed its lure is much stronger than it, it won't attack. They produce multiple lures every month and only uses the ripe ones to attract prey because you can tell by looking at the skin of the lure that it is ripe;" before she started devouring the piece she picked up "the ripe ones always taste best."

"So I was too strong for the damn thing; works for me" as he finished his piece "these things taste better than Hollows and give me the same amount of strength as a mid level basic Hollow. I'm gonna go back and pound that damn thing into the ground so I can take all the lures;" with a grin.

The two were suddenly hit with a wave of reiatsu that felt similar to Grimmjow's.

"An Arrancar;" he said as he pulled out his Soul Phone and throwing it to the ground "why the fuck ain't this thing goin' off?" as he got up and looked at Shizuka "stay here;" he told her before disappearing with sonido.

-Kurumu and Mizore-

The black and white duet walked down the same trail; each one trying to stay ahead of the other as they looked for a Durian fruit. Sure they were working together, but they each wanted to spend a day with Eiyu without anyone to interrupt them. They stopped to catch their breath and take in the scenery.

"Look!" Kurumu cheered "there's one!" as she grabbed it "I win!"

Mizore only watched with complete surprise as the fruit's tongue began to wrap around her friend's arms and basically start feeling the succubus up. Her jaw dropped so much that her lollipop fell out of her mouth because of what she was seeing. The odd appendages were squeezing Kurumu's breasts, while more were going underneath her clothes to do the same thing, causing the succubus to begin moaning in pleasure. The blue haired girl's breath hitched as she felt the tongues wrap around her legs and slowly move to her panties. The yuki-ona quickly shot several ice knives at the fruit and severed the appendages from it and causing Kurumu to drop it before falling to the ground with a look of pure bliss on her face.

"For a succubus;" she sighed "you really can't handle foreplay."

"But it felt soooo gooooodddd" the succubus replied with a smile.

"It's a fruit."

"I wasn't imagining the fruit;" with a perverted smile.

This caused the yuki-ona to blush; she knew her succubus counterpart well enough to know that she was imagining either her or Eiyu. Although she wouldn't put it beneath her friend to imagine the both of them.

"Get up;" Mizore said as she fought back her blush "it's getting away;" as she pointed at the fruit.

"NO!" Kurumu shouted as she quickly snapped out of her daydream and started running after it with Mizore right behind her.

It didn't take long for the duet to catch up to the fruit, but Kurumu was the one that grabbed it first. Before she could begin cheering, they felt a massive wave of youki crash down on them.

"What… was…?" was all Mizore could say before she heard a static like boom in Kurumu's direction.

Grimmjow grabbed the busty teen and threw her towards the yuki-ona. The duet was about to shout something at him, but then they saw what appeared to be large teeth come up and start to close around their sensei.

"BRING IT, YOU OVER GROWN WEED!" Grimmjow shouted with a grin before he was eaten.

The two watched in horror as they realized that the panther demon had just saved Kurumu and there was nothing they could do to help him. The large plant stood up and started to look at them like what they were to it; food. Before it could move towards them, they heard sadistic laughter coming from within the plant as a bulge began to form where its stomach would be. Only a second later, Grimmjow busted out of the plant and landed in front of the black and white duet; the usual grin plastered on his face that he has when he is about to fight someone.

"There ain't no way in hell I'm gonna get eaten by a fuckin' plant;" he said as his grin disappeared and he turned around "I've fought, killed, and eaten bigger and tougher than you. I'm gonna kill you and take all those fuckin' lures;" as he pointed to the large sack underneath its mouth that had countless Durian fruits in it. The plant only roared at him. "Suit yerself" as he charged a bala and fired it at the plant's head causing it to explode into countless pieces.

He grinned as he watched what was left of the plant fall to the ground and the lures spilled at his feet. He was starting to wish he didn't just throw his shirts away; he could have used them to carry more of the lures. His eyes wondered towards the two students that were behind him.

"Help me carry these damn things" he spat at them.

"WHAT?" Kurumu shouted back as Mizore only looked at him with a confused look.

"You owe me for savin' yer life;" he said as he narrowed his eyes at her "or I could be an asshole and hold it over yer head."

"Fine;" as she crossed her arms, only to secure the Durian fruit she had better.

"I'll give ya one of these lures;" as he looked at the yuki-ona.

"Alright" with a shrug.

The three were hit with another wave of reiatsu.

"Eiyu can handle himself;" Grimmjow said out loud to no one in particular.

-Tsukune-

Ayumi looked at the shinigami she had just tried, and failed, to decapitate. The flame like tattoo that went from the base of his neck to a part of his face caused her body to shake for some reason. It could have been the fact that her nails were right at the point of where the tattoo started, or the dark reiatsu she was starting to feel coming from the shinigami, or even just the fact that he didn't even try to evade the attack and was now chuckling.

"**Is that really all you can do;"** he asked in a very dark voice **"Arrancar?"** as his eyes shot open to reveal yellow irises and black scarla.

Before she could even think to move, the supposed shinigami grabbed her by her throat and threw her into a tree with enough force to completely obliterate the wood. She clenched her teeth together to keep from letting out a scream of pain as a large piece of wood went into her shoulder. When she opened her eyes she saw her opponent standing over her with an evil grin on his face; he quickly grabbed the piece of wood that was sticking out of her shoulder and yanked it out without hesitating. She let out a scream of pain as she felt several splinters break off in her shoulder; immediately, she used sonido to try to get away from her opponent.

"**Is the bunny trying to run away?"** she heard him laugh from behind her.

She looked back just in time to see him jump on her and force her head into the dirt beneath them. The sound of her mask beginning to crack under the pressure filled her ears and her eyes began to widen; even as an Arrancar, Hollows had to be careful not to let their masks become too damaged to prevent them from being stuck at a certain power level.

"**You even have a little cotton tail;"** her enemy laughed as she felt his hand grab her butt.

"Don't… don't touch… touch me you filthy shinigami!" she ordered with a shaking voice.

"**Yer in no position to be tryin' to spout orders;"** in a serious voice as he ripped the bottom half of her dress off.

He saw that the rabbit Arrancar was wearing a light purple thong and grinned as his body reacted to the sight of her nearly-bare ass. Her cream colored skin showed just how firm her ass really was, and Ghoul liked that. In one fluid motion he yanked the thong so hard it snapped and he threw the now ruined article of cloth to the side.

"What… what are you doing?" she demanded to know.

She looked back to see that the one she originally believed to be a shinigami had what appeared to be a Hollow mask forming on the right side of his face. The mask continued to grow until it covered his right eye and forced his spiky hair back. It had the same flame design on it as the tattoo that was on his skin underneath it.

"**What's it look like;"** he laughed **"I'm gonna rape ya until yer broken so bad I get bored."**

"No!" she shouted as she tried to push him off of her but he easily caught her legs.

"**Yer only gonna make it harder on yerself;"** Ghoul laughed as he used his knees to keep her legs apart and pinned to the ground and then used one hand to force her face into the ground **"this is gonna be…"**

He felt his body resisting his demands and suddenly felt Tsukune's reiatsu from deep within him. His body began to force itself up off the female Arrancar and he struggled to control the hand that was trying to reach for the mask on his face. He knew what was happening; Tsukune was trying to regain control of the body by ripping off his mask.

"**No;"** he grunted out as he fought back against Tsukune **"yer so fuckin' pathetic, ya can't even take this bitch;"** as the hand got closer to the mask **"you don't deserve to have control ya damn weakling. NO;"** as the hand grabbed a hold of the mask **"NO, NO, NO, NO!"** as he struggled against Tsukune for control of the hand that was slowly pulling the mask away from his face.

'_You won't hurt her!'_ Tsukune shouted at him as he ripped the mask off his face with a scream of pain.

Tsukune fell to his knees as he panted for air and realized what this meant. He was going to have to seek the Visoreds out very soon if he wanted to prevent this from happening again. The question that lingered in his mind was; would they help him since he rejected their first offer? They had no reason to; he had basically threw the offer right back at their faces when he told Hiyori he wouldn't go with her. He closed his eyes and couldn't believe what Ghoul was about to do; it wasn't right no matter who it is.

Ayumi took advantage of her opponent's lack of paying attention and created a Garganta to escape in; she wasn't about to risk getting raped by a delusional shinigami. Now she felt like she had more than enough reason to leave; with the information she just gained, she felt like she could justify an early departure from her mission. Tsukune opened his eyes and saw the Garganta shut; the Arrancar had retreated back to Hueco Mundo. It was the smartest thing for her to do; even if she had somehow managed to stop Ghoul from raping her, she still had to face Grimmjow and Rangiku.

He carefully picked himself up off the ground and walked over to Bloodriver; he was curious as to why she didn't prevent Ghoul from taking over him like she normally did. Had she kept his Hollow in check like she normally did, Ghoul wouldn't have nearly raped that female Arrancar. As he sheathed Bloodriver he looked at his blood soaked bandages and knew he was going to have to avoid the two vampires until he could dispose of the blood soaked fabric without them finding it. He picked up his jacket and put it on before he sonido back towards the bus since he knew it was getting close to time to leave. When he arrived at the bus, all the students were starting to load up.

"Wait!" he heard Kurumu shout "Moka's not here!"

"Split up and find the vampire" Kuyo ordered in an obviously annoyed tone.

Tsukune closed his eyes and used his Pesquisa to locate the silver haired vampire. After a few seconds, he found her; she was back in the direction he had just come from. He let out a sigh as he used sonido to go back to where he was earlier.

-Moka-

The S-ranked vampire saw the blood on the ground and inhaled the air around her; it was definitely fresh blood since it still had the scent that often drove her senses crazy. She kneeled down and used her index and middle finger to swipe up some of the blood. She brought it to her nose and smelled it; the scent started to drive her primal desire for blood crazy. Only one person's blood had ever done that too her and there was only one way to confirm that it was his. She stuck out her tongue and ran her fingers along it; her eyes immediately widened before becoming filled with rage. The taste was a perfect match to Tsukune's and she had a feeling she knew who if came from.

"Akashiya-san" she heard behind her "it's time to go."

She turned to see Eiyu standing with one hand scratching the back of his neck. Her eyes narrowed on him as she saw the bandage wrappings on his hand and torso. She knew Tsukune had a scar on his chest and died with a burn on his right hand; both of which he would try to hide from everyone's eyes.

"What happened to your chest and hand?" she asked in a serious tone.

"I hurt them when training with Grimmjow-sama;" he answered calmly "everyone is waiting for you so they can get back to campus" as he turned around and started to leave.

"Bull shit!" she shouted at him.

This caused him to stop in his tracks; he had never heard the vampiress curse before. Her tone also suggested she knew something.

"Your bandages are soaked in blood," as she pointed an accusing finger at him "I can smell it from here. I know the smell of that blood better than I know the scent of my own family's! I bet there's a scar on your chest in the shape of an X and a burn mark on your hand the looks like a cross!" practically shouting at him "JUST ADMIT IT TSUKUNE!"

"I'm not…" he started to say before he felt a large reiatsu and a Garganta rip open.

His eyes looked to the sky and saw the rift opening wider and wider until a Gillian could be seen by everyone in the area. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; the massive same-face Gillian walked out of the Garganta and let out a roar. He saw Moka's hand enter his field of vision and he instinctively grabbed it to stop her from ripping off his bandages.

"I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN LIEING TO EVERYONE!" she shouted as she used her free hand to try to rip off the bandages again "I'LL RIP OFF ALL YOUR CLOTHING TO PROVE IT IF I HAVE TOO!"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR DELUSIONS!" he shouted back at her as he blocked her hand again "that's a Gillian class Hollow. It's stronger than any Hollow that has attacked the campus before;" as he dodged a kick Moka threw at him "if it isn't killed soon then it will hurt a lot of people; POSSIBLY KILL THEM!"

Moka didn't listen to him as she threw another kick at his head. Instead of dodging it this time, he grabbed it and tossed her into a tree.

"You're even just as strong as the last time I saw you;" with anger in her voice "when your ghoulish nature tried to kill me;" as she got up.

Tsukune didn't say anything as he used sonido to get behind her and deliver a single blow to the back of her neck; effectively knocking her out. He didn't want to knock the vampire out, but she wasn't listening to him and since he was on the Safety Committee he couldn't let her continue to attack him. If Kuyo or another member were to see that, there was no telling how much trouble she'd be in; as well as him. He caught her as she fell forward and picked her up bridal style; his main focus was on where to hide her until he could kill the Gillian. As he looked around, he saw a large hollowed out tree that looked like it was just big enough to fit the S-rank vampire in it.

"I'm sorry; Moka-san" he whispered in her ear as he put her in the tree trunk "I wish I could tell you who I am, but I can't. I hope you can forgive me for knocking you out, but I need to protect everyone;" as he moved a strand of her hair away from her face.

He turned to face the Gillian, who opened its mouth and started to charge a cero aimed at the bus. His eyes widened as he drew Bloodriver, forced her into Shikai and took to the sky. He knew he didn't have time to charge his own cero to try to counter it, but he could still try to deflect the attack like he did the female Arrancar's cero.

-Grimmjow-

The panther watched as the Gillian quickly charged a cero aimed for them, he heard the engine refuse to start up; this was a hell of a time for the battery to die. Everyone on that bus was going to die if that Gillian wasn't killed very soon; at the rate that it was charging that cero, he wasn't going to be able to sonido over to it and blast it with a bala or a cero of his own.

"EVERYONE OFF THE BUS AND RUN FOR IT!" he shouted at them as the cero grew larger "NOW GODDAMNIT!"

-Tsukune-

Just as he got to the right elevation, the Gillian fired its cero; the compressed reiatsu warped the air around it as it raced towards him. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought about what he was about to do. It was incredibly stupid, as Soifon would put it, and was probably going to get him killed; but it wouldn't be the first time he died for someone else. Ghoul had already hinted at how he died; protecting the academy from becoming exposed by pouring his youki into a seal to repair the barrier. It was now or never; with a loud battle cry he gripped Bloodriver with both hands and swung his zanpakuto at the cero. The reiatsu based attack met his zanpakuto and began to push him back towards the bus. Even with him focusing countless spirit particles to his feet and behind him, the cero was pushing him backwards. He grit his teeth as he felt his reiatsu increase and he began to slow the cero down quickly.

'_I can't let this get to them;'_ he shouted at himself as he forced the cero to stop _'I have to protect them. Kurumu-chan, Mizore-chan, Yukari-chan, and Moka-san;'_ as he felt his zanpakuto slip into the cero _'WE WERE FRIENDS! WE ARE FRIENDS! AND I WON'T LET THIS GILLIAN KILL THEM!"_

-Grimmjow-

"HURRY THE FUCK UP!" the panther shouted at the students "DON'T FUCKIN'…" his eyes widened as he heard the cero fire "KEEP RUNNING!" he ordered the students and Shizuka.

The students quickly rushed in random directions in an attempt to get away from the incoming attack. Everyone was panicking as the red attack drew closer and closer.

"Shit;" he said as he saw the cero was too wide for all the students to get out of its path "get out of the damn bus!" he shouted at the driver.

"**A captain always goes down with his ship;"** the cigar smoking man replied calmly as he took a puff of his cigar **"I would feel more at peace if I were to die in my bus."**

The Safety Committee had its fastest people grabbing as many students as they could and getting them out of the blast radius that would be created. Grimmjow knew that wasn't going to be enough; he was going to have to charge a low level Grand Ray Cero, but he's never charged one that fast before. He quickly grabbed Kuyo's sword from its sheath, sliced his palm open, and let it bleed. Before he even started charging it, he saw something in the path of the cero; Aono. His eyes widened as he saw Aono attack the cero with his zanpakuto and didn't get blasted to smithereens as a result.

He was finding it difficult to bring himself to charge the Grand Ray Cero knowing that Aono was more than likely going to get caught in between the two hollow attacks. It had never been this difficult for him to risk anyone's safety before; so why the hell was it? He snarled as he began charging his ultimate cero.

-Tsukune-

He felt his blade slip further into the cero as he finally understood how to control his instincts. Instincts told him to fight, to kill, and to win; but they offered no true reason to do any of that. It was his desire to protect those around him that gave him a true reason to fight, to slay Hollows, to win fights, and to push through the pain no matter what. While his body screamed in pain, his instincts allowed him to ignore the pain and focus on the cero he was trying to stop.

"I…" he grunted as he slowly pushed himself forward "won't…" as the cero became noticeably distorted "let…" as his blade slipped against the cero "you…" the cero started to split "KILL THEM!" as he used his zanpakuto to slice the cero clean in half while he got closer to the Gillian's mask.

-Grimmjow-

The Arrancar only grinned as he saw Aono slice the cero in half; he was going to save his disbelief for later. Now he only had to worry about half of the cero, since the top half was going to go clear over the bus and into the ocean, and didn't have to worry about hitting Aono. Blue reiatsu began to build up in his palm as he focused on his target.

"Grand Ray Cero!" he shouted as the reiatsu became a sphere.

The blue sphere flew towards the red reiatsu and exploded on impact; everyone cheered as they saw the smoke disperse into the air.

-Tsukune-

The shinigami continued to slice the cero in half as he drew closer to the Gillian. His intent was clear in his eyes and with how his reiatsu felt; he was going to wipe this Gillian off the face of the earth. With one last battle cry, he split the Gillian's mask in half and unleashed a massive amount of reiatsu; the Gillian let out a cry of pain just before it dissolved into thin air. A smile grew on Tsukune's face as he knew everyone was safe as his vision grew blurry and he couldn't focus enough to keep spirit particles condensed under his feet.

He lost consciousness and fell from his once stable footing. The sound of the wind screaming past his ears barely registered to him as his body picked up speed thanks to gravity. As he finally got to tree top elevation, he slammed into branches that knocked him every which way as he continued to fall to the ground; hitting it with a heavy thud as he fell from the last branches. Bloodriver returned her Shikai back to its fully sealed state as Tsukune's grip on her lightened. She knew he had spent a massive amount of reiatsu and keeping his Shikai released would only cause him to lose more. It was a complete surprise to her that he was able to do what he just did and survive; she had accepted and anticipated death with his little stunt, yet they were both alive, so to speak.

-Moka-

The S-ranked vampire woke up to a massive wave of youki crashing into her; when she tried to look around she could barely move and see. Then she remembered that she was in the middle of calling Tsukune out when that thing, Gillian as he called it, showed up. She ignored it and attacked Tsukune in an attempt to force him to confess his identity to her; which ended with her feeling a hit to the back of her neck and suddenly waking up here. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a light next to her; with a powerful shove, she broke the bark apart and freed herself from the tree trunk.

Her eyes widened as she saw the Gillian evaporate into nothingness with someone standing where its head used to be. Immediately, she knew that it was Tsukune and he was serious about killing that massive hollow. She felt a wave of guilt hit her as she realized that she held him up and wasn't sure what the result of her action was. Someone could've been killed because of her anger and suddenly resurfacing ego and pride; Tsukune had tried to get her to stop, but she continued to attack him.

"What have I done?" she asked herself before she saw Tsukune fall from the sky "TSUKUNE!" she shouted in horror.

She raced towards him so she could help him; she had to get to him for a few reasons. One, so she could reveal his true identity; two, so she could finally stop questioning herself about his identity; and three, so she could apologize to for everything she's done. The wind pushed her hair all the way back as she ran at top speed towards the 'Fraccion'; her muscles were stiff from not being in many fights this semester, but she ignored the pain she was feeling.

When she finally found him, he was unconscious on his back with his katana barely being held in his hand; his jacket was burned a little and revealed the blood soaked bandages underneath it. Her heart started to beat heavily as she reached for the bandages; this was the moment of truth, she would finally either confirm or deny that this 'Kenpachi Eiyu' was really Aono Tsukune. A voice in the back of her mind was telling her this was a bad idea, but she had to know; she just had too! Her hand began to shake nervously as she got closer to the blood stained material; a part of her didn't want to know the truth because she was afraid she'd be wrong, but she quickly got over the fear as her hand was about to grab hold of the bandages.

Suddenly a hand grabbed hers and stopped her from even touching the once white material. The person had incredible strength as they held her hand in place, not even letting move a millimeter. Her head snapped around so she could look at the person she was about to shout at, but couldn't say anything as she saw her mother was the one stopping her.

"M-m-mother;" with complete disbelief.

"Moka-darling;" she said with her usual soft smile.

"Where…" as tears began to form "where have you been?" she demanded to know.

"I see you do not remember;" as her smile vanished as she looked away.

"REMEMBER WHAT?" she shouted.

"It has been six years, and the memory was repressed for a reason;" as she stood up, bringing Moka up with her "I will tell you this; I never truly left you. When your seal was finished I sealed a piece of myself in the rosary to create your outerself so I would always be with you. I cannot continue this conversation," as she wiped the tears away from her daughter's face "there is a storm coming and;" as she looked at her wielder "he will need to be stronger than he is now. I believe he is ready for the next level;" as she turned back to her daughter.

"Next… level…" in confusion.

"Had I survived that day, I would have told you about many things;" as she pulled the silver haired vampire closer to her "but right now I cannot. Please forgive me for doing this."

Before Moka could ask her question, she was hit in the back of the neck and knocked out. She gently set her daughter on the ground and flared her reiatsu so Grimmjow would know where to come; however, she had no intentions of being there when the Arrancar showed up. She lazily picked up Tsukune and the blade that normally contained her and began to walk further into Paradise. There was a second entrance to the underground training grounds that Tsukune had found; that entrance was on the far side of Paradise, but she knew that no creatures would dare attack her. At least none that could feel the power she was radiating.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

"This is worse than when I spent the day running from the Gotei Thirteen with Ichigo-san;" Hanataro said quietly to himself as he hide under a table.

The red head hadn't stopped chasing him since he told her he was looking for Eiyu. He didn't have the stamina to keep this up forever; he needed to find a safe place to hide until he could find Eiyu. The only question was; where? This place was completely new to him and he had no clue where anything was; at least in the Seireitei he knew the sewers well enough to guide Ichigo through them. Here he was completely blind.

"Where are you; ya weakling?" he heard Shuzen shout.

The medic carefully crawled out from the under the table and tried to sneak over into the kitchen area. He doubted she would look in there.

"He's over here Strawberry-chan!" he heard the voice of Yachiru-fuku-taichou.

During their earlier chase, Kokoa saw the small fairy was giggling as she kept up with the two. So she employed the fairy with promises of payment in candy; which she could easily get plenty of.

"Yer done!" she shouted as she brought her war hammer down trying to hit Hanataro, barely missing again.

"SOMEONE SAVE ME!" he cried as he rushed ran through the courtyard again.

"GIVE ME THAT DAMN FILE!" Kokoa shouted as she continued her pursuit.

-Kurumu and Mizore-

"I can't believe we tied" Kurumu complained.

"This means we can both spend a day with Eiyu;" Mizore said as she looked at her Durian "it worked out for the best."

"But I got a Durian all on my own;" she whined "it's not fair."

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!" they heard Kokoa shout before something collapsed to the ground.

"PLEASE HELP ME!" they saw a black haired boy cry as he ran away from the red haired vampire.

"He'll be fine;" Mizore said as she used an ice knife to cut a piece of the Durian off so she could eat it.


	22. Chapter 22

Author's rant:

Whoever this anonymous reviewer 'Jasper' is, learn to pay attention to the chapters! In my earlier chapter when Tsukune first returned to Yokai Academy and was at the club with Mizore; I pointed out that a month's worth of time had passed since his death! If you kept track of the amount of time since Tsukune woke up in the Soul Society to that night, only ONE WEEK had passed. There is _three weeks_ of missing time between his death and waking up in the Soul Society; a lot happened in those three weeks! Just because I haven't revealed it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. Also, as the Head Master said, he was expecting Tsukune to turn into a Hollow. If I need to paint you a fucking picture please let me know.

Q/A:

Toby:  
Q: How can Tsukune start bankai training when he hasn't even managed to use one of the special attacks that they are supposed to have?  
A: In all fairness, Ichigo couldn't use his Getsuga Tensho before he went through bankai training either. The one time he used it he had no idea what he was doing. Plus, Bloodriver doesn't have any other than being able to heal him with the blood on the blade and then using any excess to gain someone else's abilities; besides, he is starting to hear the name of the attack which is good enough for Bloodriver.

Continuing the story now;  
Demon

Xxxxxxx

Grimmjow stepped off the bus with an unconscious vampire under his arm. He felt Aono's reiatsu, but didn't find him; instead he found the vampire that seemed to be trying to call them out the entire time they've been here. A growl escaped him as he walked towards the infirmary to drop off the vampire. It bothered him that Aono just completely disappeared like he did; it wasn't like him, normally he'd tell his flat chested taichou where he was going since he practically always checked in with her.

"Where'd you disappear to?" he growled as he tried to figure out the answer.

He heard a crash as a tree hit the ground; when he looked in the direction the noise came from, he saw the runt from the Fourth Division running from the red head vampire.

"GIVE ME THAT DAMN FILE!" the red head shouted.

"Help me!" Hanataro called out as he ran towards Grimmjow.

The small vampire had a fire in her eyes as she continued to chase after the medic; it made the Arrancar wonder what happened. Knowing the brat, it was probably something completely stupid. Her attention soon became directed to him when she saw her Onee-sama in his hands.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ONEE-SAMA?" as she swung her blade at Grimmjow.

"I didn't do jack shit ya little bitch;" as he caught her blade with his hand "I found her like this and was takin' her to the infirmary."

"Jagerjaquez-san;" Hanataro said "if you set her down I can examine her;" as he reached for the medical bag on his back.

The Arrancar set the unconscious vampire down on the ground and watched as the boy's hands started to glow green. He recognized the kido; the way that the fuku-taichou that examined him after he was taken to the Seireitei said it was a diagnostic medical kido. It was going to tell the seventh seat what was up with the vampire.

"How can I trust you?" Kokoa demanded to know as she put the tip of her sword to Hanataro's throat.

"He's a medic not a fighter ya dumbass;" Grimmjow spat "if he was a fighter do ya think he would've been runnin' from ya?"

"I guess not;" with a scowl "I'm watchin' you. Try anything AND I'LL CUT YER DAMN DICK OFF!"

Hanataro ignored the threat, since it wasn't too different than the ones he'd get from patients that weren't being compliant in the Clinic, as he placed his glowing hand on Moka's stomach. He couldn't detect anything that was life threatening wrong with her; she seemed to only be knocked out. As the diagnostic continued, he found that a vertebra had been cracked somehow and that was something that had to be fixed immediately.

"Please help me roll her over;" as he looked at the red head that had been chasing him "she has a cracked neck bone that needs healed."

Kokoa only nodded as she gently grabbed her sister's shoulder while Hanataro stabilized the neck. With a nod from the medic, she carefully rolled her sister over to her side. She watched as the black haired boy used his calf to hold Moka's head up and his hand began to glow green again; he placed his hand on the back of Moka's neck and started to heal the cracked bone. Slowly, the S-ranked vampire began to regain consciousness; the first thing she saw was her sister's worried face. She quickly shot up right as she realized where she had been knocked out at and where she now was.

"Tsukune…" she muttered as she remembered everything that happened; her eyes turned to Grimmjow "where is he?" in a firm voice.

"Who?"

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO!" as she got in his face with rage visible in her eyes.

Grimmjow only returned her glare as he flared his reiatsu at her.

"I don't know who ya think is responsible for you being back on campus;" as he kept his reiatsu flared "but it's because of Eiyu that I found ya. And if ya don't get that arrogant look outa yer eyes," with a serious voice "I'll beat it outa them. I've put up with pricks that think they're better than everyone else for countless years, and only one of those people has ever earned my respect;" as he narrowed his eyes at her "now get whatever stick ya got shoved up yer ass out and get the fuck over yerself."

Kokoa only tightened her grip on Kyo as she was on the verge of attacking the panther demon. No one, _NO ONE_, spoke to her Onee-sama like that and got away with it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to see that Hanataro was shaking his head letting her know that what she was thinking was a very bad idea. The look in his eyes suggested that he knew what happened, how she wasn't sure but something told her he would end up healing the aftermath from the results.

"Now if we're done here;" as he turned and walked away "I got somewhere better I can be."

"Don't think this is over; Jagerjaquez" Moka growled at him as he walked away.

Grimmjow didn't even bother to reply back as he kept walking towards the gym; where he knew Soifon was training at. He already knew how the conversation was going to end, badly. Moka started walking towards the dorms as she tried to remember every conversation she's had with 'Eiyu' that she could use as proof that he is Tsukune.

"I'll give ya a day's break;" Kokoa said to Hanataro as Kyo turned back into his chibi form "then I'm gonna start attackin' ya again for that file. And don't think it's 'cause I'm in a good mood; it's only cause you healed Onee-sama. Once that sun comes up tomorrow, it starts all over."

The seventh seat only nodded as the red head took off to follow her sister. A sigh escaped him as he picked his bag up and looked back at the mansion knowing full well he had to go to it. He hung his head as he started to walk to the mansion; if Tsukune was nowhere to be found then he couldn't be back in the Seireitei before sunrise, when the red head was going to start attacking him again.

"Why does this always happen to me?" he asked rhetorically as he got closer to the mansion.

"Excuse me;" he heard a soft feminine voice say.

He looked at the source of the voice and saw a woman with long brown hair, reddish-brown eyes and wearing what looked like an extremely old outfit.

"Are you the shinigami that entered campus a few hours ago?" she asked him.

"Hai…" with slight concern.

"The Head Master would like to speak with you in his office;" Ruby said with a smile "please follow me."

He nodded and followed the woman she reminded him of his taichou, quiet, polite, and nice to everyone.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE HE WENT!" they heard Soifon's voice rang before a crash was heard as they passed the gym.

-Grimmjow-

The Arrancar picked himself out of the bleachers after receiving a full power kick to his chest. The conversation went just as he expected; he told her Aono was missing, and she screamed like a banshee before sending him flying across the gym.

"I thought that only that short bitch shinigami could shout like a fuckin' banshee;" he growled as he cracked his neck "was I wrong or what?"

"You're telling me;" Soifon said with anger in her eyes "Tsukune went AWOL?"

It was hard for her to accept the fact that Tsukune, _Tsukune_ of all people, simply disappeared without a word. There was no way that he would do that; he always checked in before going and returning from patrol, training, practically everything he did he reported.

"Clean yer damn ears;" he spat at her "I felt his reiatsu back towards that Paradise place and when I showed up, he wasn't there. Only that damn silver haired headache and she had been knocked unconscious."

"What was he doing prior to disappearing?"

"First he fought an Arrancar;" as he scratched his head.

The reiatsu he remembered feeling was definitely an Arrancar's, but because he had to make that detour to save the succubus he missed his chance to fight it. Sure he was pissed that he didn't get a good fight, but those Durian are worth it; right now though, with Aono missing, things were going to be pretty hectic when this gets back to the Old Fart.

"Why didn't you go to assist him or did you leave your Soul Phone in your room?" as her eyes narrowed at him.

She wouldn't be surprised if the Arrancar was so busy screwing that feline sensei that he forgot it on his desk. All he ever talked about was his 'dates' with the living woman, and it annoyed her like no hell could.

"Give me some fuckin' credit shinigami;" he spat "the damn thing didn't go off. It was like we weren't even bein' watched by that creeper freak. I know that Aono at least drove the Arrancar off since he sliced a cero in half and killed the Gillian that fired it."

"He… did… what?" in complete disbelief.

"He sliced a cero clean in half;" he repeated slowly "not sure how but I don't give much of a shit right now 'cause everyone got back."

Soifon's eyes showed just how surprised she was; she had never heard of a cero being sliced in half. A cero was pure compressed reiatsu that could destroy almost anything in its path. She believed that, at best, a cero could only be deflected; not cut in half.

"I think he's still on campus though;" Grimmjow added.

"Why do you say that?" still in slight shock.

"'Cause I didn't sense another Garganta open up;" with a serious look in his eye "and I didn't sense any of the reiatsu that one of those gate things ya use leaves behind either. It's like he just walked off deep into Paradise."

Soifon thought about everything the Arrancar had said; if it was all true, then Tsukune hadn't truly gone AWOL, he was only misplaced. While the sou-taichou would probably disagree, she still had to report it; much to her dislike.

"We'll report this after dinner;" she said "this will give him time to return. If he hasn't come back by then, we report him as AWOL" as she walked away from Grimmjow.

The Arrancar wasn't sure if she was talking to herself, or letting him know what they were going to do about Aono. He let out a sigh as he began to leave the gym; he was starting to wish that Kurosaki was here so he could fight him. There was hardly anything for him to do here and it was slowly driving him insane.

-Mizore-

The yuki-ona opened her mail box and saw a letter; she withdrew the mail she had received, opened, and read it. At first glance it seemed to be a reminder that the Flower Offering Ceremony, but she could see the deeper meaning to the letter. She crumpled up the letter and shoved it in her hoodie's pocket.

"What was that all about?" Kurumu asked her.

"It's nothing;" as she walked towards her room.

She would never forget about something as important to her people as the Flower Offering Ceremony; yet her mother sent her this letter as a reminder. Something didn't sit right in her cool body, and she could only imagine that something was wrong back home. But she didn't have the means to return home, and even if she did; what could she do that the Priestess could not?

-Ruby-

She led the shinigami to the Head Master's office while talking about various things. The boy had graduated from the Shinigami Academy only eighteen months ago and was a member of the Fourth Division. He told her about how harsh of an experience the Academy was for him since his birthday was on the infamous April Fool's Day, and how this led him to believe that he's the most bullied kid in the world. The witch was surprised to see that the shinigami was still looking at the bright side of things.

He then told her about when a Kuchiki Rukia had been sentenced to death for giving her powers to a human; she had almost stopped in her tracks when she heard that a shinigami could give their powers to others in a similar way that Yokai can. Hanataro told her the name of the human is Kurosaki Ichigo, who is really half human and half shinigami, and then told her how he was willing to risk everything to help Ichigo save Rukia. This Ichigo person sounded a lot like Tsukune.

"Here we are;" as she knocked on the office door "Head Master, the shinigami you wished to speak to is here."

"**Enter."**

Ruby opened the door and showed Hanataro in. When the seventh seat saw the man he was to speak to, he became very nervous; he felt like the glowing eyes underneath the hood that covered the man's face were peering straight through him. The man looked calm and relaxed, but it seemed like he was also ready for anything to happen. The shinigami began to shake for some reason.

"**Please relax;"** the Exorcist said **"if you keep shaking like that you may force yourself out of your gigai. Toujo-san, you may leave us."**

Hanataro nodded as he took a deep breath and barely managed to get himself to stop shaking. Ruby nodded to her employer and left the room; lately he's wanted more and more privacy when it came to information about Tsukune.

"**Yamamoto informed me that you would be coming;"** he said to the boy **"however, he didn't mention why. Could you please fill me in on your assignment?"**

"Hai;" the seventh seat said "I'm to deliver the results of blood work that was done to Aono Tsukune, who is under the alias Kenpachi Eiyu. When I asked that red haired girl where he was," rubbing the back of his head as he remembered that he spent the last few hours trying to hide from her "she attacked me."

"**Ah… you must understand;"** the hooded man explained **"Shuzen-san has a vendetta against Tsukune-kun for reasons that are personal. I'm sure she planned on using whatever the results yielded against him in any way possible. Have you looked over the results?"** with what seemed to be narrowed eyes

"Hai;" as he became nervous again "there were no toxins in his system from when he fought against hollows alongside the Eleventh Division. A complete blood panel was done to check for any genetic diseases that he might have so he could begin treatment for them immediately…"

"**But instead of a disease;"** he chimed in **"you found that his blood had female DNA as well."**

Hanataro's eyes widened when he heard this; the man knew that Aono Tsukune had female DNA running through his veins as well as male. That didn't make any sense; how was that possible? The man put his hands together in front of his face and something told the seventh seat that the hooded character was reading his mind.

"**How I know this doesn't truly concern you;"** he said **"what matters is: how many people know…"** waiting for an answer **"well?"**

This man was scarier than Kurotsuchi-taichou, and that's saying something.

"Unohana-taichou, Kurotsuchi-taichou, and possibly Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou;" he answered slightly shaking "Kurotsuchi-taichou said that the female DNA was doing something to Aono-san's. He hasn't gotten the results from his simulations yet."

"**I'll be sure to voice that I want those results as soon as they come in;"** as he leaned back in his large chair **"back to the reason you are here;"** as he looked at the boy **"Tsukune-kun seems to have vanished. Not even I am aware of his current location; all that I am certain about is that he is still on campus. I'll have Toujo-san give you temporary sleeping quarters until we can locate him; I'm sure his taichou is most furious because of his latest stunt. I did warn her though;"** with a smile **"let's keep Tsukune-kun's results between us and him, now; Toujo-san."**

"Hai" Ruby said as she walked back into the office.

She knew that the barrier that was within the walls of the office made it impossible to eavesdrop on any conversations that took place; otherwise she would've had her ear to the door listening in the entire time. The only time she ever heard anything come from the room was when the Head Master summoned her.

"**Please take our friend here to an empty dorm room so he can make himself comfortable;"** as he pulled a scroll out of his desk drawer **"also, be sure that it is a room far away from Shuzen Kokoa's. The information that he is carrying is sensitive and strictly confidential."**

"Hai;" Ruby said with a bow.

-?-

Fujisaki kept his eyes closed as he listened to what the rabbit like Arrancar had to say about her mission. When she first showed up with the lower part of her dress missing, he wasn't sure what to think as the female kept her nether regions covered with her hands. He only nodded his head as she began to tell him about her fight with the shinigami; then things got interesting.

"I went to cut his head off…" she said "and it was like he had Hierro; my nails didn't even make a scratch on him. When he opened his eyes, they were like Hollow eyes and his voice was completely different. He was stronger and more vicious;" as she remembered everything "he threw me through a tree, when I tried to run from him he easily caught up and knocked me to the ground where…" embarrassed to say it "he… tried to rape me."

Laughter could be heard echoing through the chamber. Ayumi quickly shot an angry glare in the direction that it was coming from and saw Midou holding his side.

"**I thought Arrancar were supposed to be fearless;"** as he struggled to remain standing **"but it looks like you female Arrancar are nothing but glorified cowards."**

"It would be wise to be careful of your words;" Fujisaki warned "especially since Harribel is right behind you;" without opening his eyes.

The laughter immediately stopped as the once Monstrel slowly looked behind him; only to see a very annoyed blonde Arrancar behind him. He was already on her bad side having failed his assignment when he attacked Las Noches; this was going to pretty much end him.

"Worthless scum like you, have no right to spout nonsense like that;" she said as her eyes narrowed "as I recall Fujisaki telling me, Aono nearly beat you within an inch of your worthless life when you were alive. Then you had difficulty fighting him again in the Seireitei; that scar on your arm should be a reminder of that. Aono has fouled Aizen-sama's plans to expose Yokai to the world so powerful Hollow would be born as a result of the war that would follow; his strength should not be underestimated" before she walked over to Fujisaki.

Midou didn't say anything as he kept his body from showing the fear he felt because of the blonde woman. He knew she was a Vasto Lorde and that she could easily kill him with one hit; yet she never once struck him. She only ever flared her reiatsu at him to remind him that she was his superior in every way; strength, power, and skill.

"Please continue your report;" Fujisaki said to the rabbit.

"Before he could rape me," still embarrassed that it nearly happened "he began shouting things to himself as he got off me. When I looked back, I saw his hand reaching for the mask that was forming on his face before ripping it off. I retreated for my personal safety; please forgive me."

"That is alright;" the man in charge said "had you beaten Aono, you still would've had to fight a fuku-taichou and an ex-Espada. You were right by returning here. Harribel, please take Fujimura-san to a bedroom and get her some new clothes;" his eyes still closed.

He might be a guy, but he still had the decency to keep his eyes closed when a woman was uncomfortable being half naked in front of him. This was something he did for Harribel's Fraccion when he lived in Las Noches; there were times when he'd hear them arguing about something and when he went to see what it was, they'd have their clothes ripped to shreds. They'd immediately turn red with embarrassment and he'd close his eyes; they were an odd group and he wondered how the only female Espada put up with it.

"Hai;" as she led the rabbit Arrancar down a hall.

When he heard that the women were down the hall he opened his eyes. The large room was nowhere near as large as the throne room in Las Noches, but it could easily hold a hundred people or so. The stone pillars went up a hundred feet to meet the ceiling that they kept from crashing down to the occupants of the room. The pure white curtains that hung next to the numerous windows reminded him of the snow covered mountain he visited with his unofficial adopted family when he was ten; out of Harribel's Fraccion, he remembered Apacci being the most protective when he tried to run off on his own.

"I never could understand those three;" he sighed as he stood up.

His eyes narrowed at Midou as he flared his reiatsu at him.

"You might be strong for a hollow that isn't even a Gillian;" in a firm and slightly angry tone "but I will not tolerate you insulting your superiors like you did. By right, I should let Harribel kill you for saying such nonsense; you are lucky I have plans for you" as he kept his reiatsu up "otherwise I'd let her rip your arm off and watch you try to fight off several Hollows that are ready to turn into a Gillian. Now;" as he let his reiatsu die down "leave my sight."

Midou didn't say anything as he opened a Garganta and left the castle they were in.

"That was not necessary;" he heard Harribel say to him.

He didn't respond. He felt it was completely necessary; the sorry excuse for a Hollow had no idea that by insulting Fujimura, he insulted every female Arrancar.

"I miss them as well;" she said as she walked over to the window and looked out "while I understand that you living call this 'grieving', it is not necessary. They went down fighting, just as they would've wanted, and with an honorable opponent; the sou-taichou didn't even disgrace them by turning them into ashes. They died a good death."

"I can't help it;" with a slight chuckle "as annoying as they were, they were pretty much my onee-sans."

"What should we do about Aono?" changing the topic "should he seek out the Visoreds, he will possibly gain control of his Hollow and become an even bigger threat to our plans to free Aizen-sama."

He thought about this; he knew how big of a threat Kurosaki became after he went to the Visoreds and gained control of his Hollow. Should Aono do the same thing, there was no telling just how much of a threat he would become. Something told him it wouldn't be as simple as he originally thought; simply being there when his Hollow took over wasn't going to be enough. Someone was going to have to show him how strong Aizen can make him; not just anyone either, recent events showed that. The one that extends this invitation to Aono was either going to have to be an extremely strong female, or at least a somewhat stronger male. Only one seemed realistic since most of the Espada had been killed by the shinigami and the only male that would probably be able to reason with Aono was dead.

"We need to speed up our plans;" he said "this will keep Aono from having time to seek out the Visoreds. And when his Hollow takes over him;" as he looked at the busty Arrancar "I'd like for you to be there to invite him to our ranks."

The shark Arrancar nodded.

"I guess it's a good thing the Flower Offering Ceremony is in three days;" with a large smile as he looked at the Yuki-Ona Village "should Shirayuki Mizore fail to show up in two days;" looking back to Harribel "take a couple people with you and retrieve her by any means necessary. And if someone tries to stop you, you may kill them if necessary; regardless of whom they may be."

"Hai."

-Soifon-

The petite taichou waited for the screen to turn on so she could report the day's events; including Tsukune's disappearance. It wasn't something she wanted to report, but she had given him all the time she could to return from wherever he went. It didn't help that Jagerjaquez had threatened the leader of the Safety Committee when the Kitsune questioned him about Eiyu's whereabouts. Everything about this deployment was starting to reveal things that not even the sou-taichou knew about; which was something that caused worry in her mind.

"Report;" Yamamoto said as the screen came to life "where is Aono Tsukune?" as he saw the brown haired teen was missing.

"We are unsure about Aono's whereabouts;" Soifon reported "Jagerjaquez will report what happened today during the second year students' Survival Day."

Grimmjow only groaned as he stepped next to Soifon.

"Aono fought an Arrancar;" he began "and thanks to that painted freak of a taichou, my Soul Phone didn't go off. So by time I felt the Arrancar's reiatsu, I'm guessing the fight was about over. I couldn't make it because I had to save two students from a plant called a Durian; I got a pretty good stash of fruit now too" with a snicker "the next time I saw Aono; he was between me and a Gillian's cero just before he sliced it in half and killed it. After that, I felt his reiatsu and went to get him only to find that silver haired headache knocked out instead."

The sou-taichou's eyes cracked open when he heard the mention of a silver haired girl; he knew that Akasha had given birth to a girl with silver hair. His mind pondered the odds of the one Jagerjaquez had found being the same girl, and while it was a slim chance; it was still a chance.

"That was Tsukune?" Matsumoto asked in shock.

"Yea;" without looking back to her.

"So Aono has gone AWOL…" Yamamoto began to say.

"**I'm afraid I must contradict you old friend;"** the Head Master said as he stepped into the light **"as you are aware, there is little that happens in my dimension that I am unaware of;"** Yamamoto only looked at him **"the last Garganta that opened in my dimension was the one that the Gillian showed up with. And the last Senkaimon that appeared was the one that the boy from the Fourth Division showed up using. This leads me to believe that Tsukune-kun is still on campus and he simply doesn't wish to be found at the moment for some reason."**

"Regardless;" the sou-taichou said "his inability to follow protocol is already taxing both my patience and tolerance, but because a Hades Lord is standing by him;" as his eyes opened a little more "he has four days to report to me and explain himself. Otherwise I will have four taichou deployed to search for him and bring him back to the Soul Society under suspicion of conspiracy against the Seireitei."

"ARE YOU GOING FUCKIN' SENILE; OLD FART?" Grimmjow shouted before anyone could finish registering what was said.

Everyone just looked at the blue haired Arrancar in disbelief at what he just said. Only one person ever spoke to the sou-taichou like that, and he barely got away with it; even Ichigo knew to talk to the oldest shinigami with at least some level of respect. The Arrancar was already on thin ice because of the part he played in Aizen's army, and he was stupid enough to say that.

"Watch what you say Jagerjaquez;" Soifon warned.

"Fuck no! If Aono were plottin' against the Soul Society then he woulda killed us by now;" looking at the taichou "he's had plenty of chances to kill jumbo tits here;" pointing at Rangiku "let's not forget that pipsqueak is almost always on his shoulder" looking at the smallest fuku-taichou "and wouldn't we have been able to tell if he was hiding his true strength when we train him?"

Soifon thought about what the panther had pointed out; it was true that if Tsukune were to be plotting against the Soul Society then he would've killed them by now. It would be the perfect chance to weaken their already damaged forces; a taichou, two fuku-taichou, and an ex-Espada that he could easily point the blame to. This would completely destroy any chances of Arrancar and shinigami working side by side.

"No one ever suspected Aizen until it was too late;" Yamamoto said in a firm voice "as a result, no one is above suspicion."

Grimmjow growled in annoyance; he knew this was bull shit. Sure, Aono was stronger than he let on, but not much stronger; every training session he's put the shinigami through had pushed the boy until he puked or nearly dropped from exhaustion. There was also no way that the teen would betray the Soul Society; not with how he's seen the boy looking at a certain taichou. It was slowly looking like he was going to lose the bet he made with Yoruichi, and it hasn't even been a week; there was a chance he could win though since he doubted that Aono would sack up and screw the petite woman.

-Tsukune's Mindscape-

Ghoul looked at the massive mansion in front of him; his mission was clear, explore as much as he could before Bloodriver returned from training his weak side that still believed they were human. That was the deal he made with the vampire before she left Tsukune's mindscape; he can explore anything he wanted to in her absence as long as he doesn't try to possess him. It was a good deal for him, it meant he could explore every building he could; which he wanted to do because of the fact that Bloodriver had been keeping him away from the buildings. The vampire hadn't been keeping him away from just one building either. No, that would make it easy for him to discover the secrets that were being hidden from him. Now he had an unknown amount of time to search every inch of every building to discover what Bloodriver was hiding from him.

She must not believe that he could find what she was hiding if she were to be willing to make that deal with him. Surely she had to be smarter than that; she had to know that he would be motivated enough to dig through every building. The vampire must have been playing some sort of angle if she didn't think he would find it; there was no way she'd be dumb enough to simply give him free reign over the land that resembled the place he hated the most.

"**What's she playing at?"** he asked himself as he entered the gym.

He took a look around and saw that it was empty; only polished wood floor that made up the basketball court. Not wanting to risk missing anything, he sonido over to the office space and opened the door; not surprisingly, the space was completely empty other than two plain desks. Of course he should've seen that coming; he had been able to see inside before and only saw the empty space that made the basketball court. A sigh escaped him as he quickly sonido out of the gym and headed to the library, the only building Bloodriver ever actually let him go in. He knew that the building was empty, but didn't want to risk there being something in there and missing it because he didn't double check.

"**This is going to take a while;"** he groaned as he pushed the door open.

-Grimmjow-

The Arrancar opened his eyes and saw a large jungle that had massive trees that limited the amount of light that shined through the canopy. He heard the sound of several animals communicating through the thick brush as he decided to investigate. Vines were moved as he pushed into the jungle and bugs began to fly around and bite him; he heard splashing as he stepped in a puddle of mud. When he looked down he saw a large animal footprint that he easily recognized as a panther's. His eyes skimmed the surrounding area as he became more alert now that he knew something was out there; the last thing he wanted to do was let his guard down and get ambushed.

He flared his reiatsu as a warning to anything that could be nearby. If the creatures around here, wherever here was, couldn't take a hint then he wouldn't have any problem fighting them; more so since he hasn't had a good fight in a long time. He wondered how much longer he was going to have to wait until Kurosaki was going to fight him again like he promised. He pushed a large leaf aside as he continued to investigate the jungle around him. This place was the exact opposite of Hueco Mundo; it was full of life: trees that were lush and green, fungus that was eating away the logs on the ground, loud animal noises, and all the damned bugs that wouldn't stop biting him.

"Stop fuckin' bitin' me!" he snarled as he finally got fed up with the insects and started swatting at them.

Before he could take another swat at the bugs, a blade was suddenly put to throat by someone that appeared behind him. His eyes widened as he realized that whoever this was had masked their reiatsu perfectly and gotten the drop on him; only a few people he knew could mask their reiatsu on that level, Soifon being one of them.

"Pantera?" he asked without looking back.

"No;" a feminine voice said "if I were that _beast_" with noticeable disgust when she said beast "I would've killed you for being so careless and letting yourself become open like that."

The blade was removed from his throat, but before he could turn around to see the woman that could've killed him; she vanished. He looked around to try to locate her, but she didn't even disturb a single leaf in her approach or exit. He looked down and saw two footprints where she had been standing; it seemed that the woman didn't wear shoes as she left her bare footprints behind. Surprise made his eyes widen as he noticed that there were no other footprints around him; none approaching or leaving him, it was like she just appeared. That couldn't be though, he didn't hear a sonido being used; there was no way she could've been able to sneak up on him like that without using sonido or making any noise.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked as he put his hand to the footprint.

"The one you have ignored for many centuries;" the answer came from what seemed like all directions.

The Arrancar grabbed his zanpakuto as he began scanning the surrounding branches for the source of the voice. This woman was fast, possibly as fast as the flat chested taichou that Aono had such a hard-on for; she could show up anywhere and catch you off guard in a fight. This woman had already done that once without making a single sound to give away her position.

"If you believe that _beast_" again, with noticeable disgust "can protect you;" as he felt a hand grab his throat from behind and something pressed against his spine "then please, do _try_ to use him."

Grimmjow shot upright in his bed with his heart racing faster than he thought possible; it was the dead of night and what he saw was only a dream. He felt something he hadn't felt in a while; fear. That woman could've killed him, but she didn't; instead of using the tip of her sword to make a killing attack, she used the butt of its hilt and toyed with him. Why?

"Another dream; Grimmi?" Shizuka asked as she looked at him.

Grimmjow didn't reply.

"What happened this time?"

"I was in a jungle;" he said "I got further in this time than before and found an animal track that I'm guessing belonged to Pantera. When I kept going deeper, a sword was put to my throat; when I asked to see if it was Pantera, a woman said no and if she was then she would have been she would've killed me for letting myself become open. Then she let me go;" as he looked at the Neko lying on his bed next to him "she had caught me completely off guard, had the perfect chance to kill me, but didn't. If that wasn't enough; she didn't make a single sound before or after she put her sword to my throat. After that, she grabbed my throat and put the butt of her hilt to my back; that was twice she could've killed me but didn't."

"Weird things happen in dreams;" the Neko said with a yawn.

"I guess;" as he laid back down.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Akua looked at the massive stack of films that Kokoa had made of her favorite sister from last year. She had no room to question her youngest sister's affection for the silver haired girl since she did love her on an even higher level than her temperamental sister. From the day she saved her silver haired sister from the Chinese mafia, she had felt the deep affection that prevented her from being able to try to kill Bloodriver because the thought of Moka being sad hurt her.

When the blonde Arrancar that has been working under Fujisaki, the head of the division that her oldest step sister works in, approached her and said she would be required for a mission to Yokai Academy; she couldn't sleep. She would finally be able to see her sister again after almost seven long years.

"I wonder how cute she is;" with a slight blush as she tried to imagine it.

Her eyes wondered back to the films that Kokoa had her bake-bake bat make. She had wanted it to be a surprise to herself, but she couldn't help it any more. In one quick motion she pulled the cassette out of the box, put it in the VCR, and turned on the TV before turning the lights off. As she sat on her bed, she pulled her dog close to her and watched the screen show what was on the film. The battle was between Moka and a Werewolf that had tried to sexually assault her precious sister (her words). She was depressed to see that the seal hadn't broken yet, but let out a squeal of delight when she saw a boy pull it off and she changed from her pink haired version to her true self.

"She's more than cute Earl Grey;" she said with an even bigger blush "she's beautiful~!" as she rolled on the bed with the dog.

"Akua-sama;" someone said as they opened her door "I heard…"

Before he could continue the powerful vampiress hit him with her Youho Saishusui and put him through a wall.

"Did I say you could interrupt my personal time?" with an evil look in her eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

It was the morning of the first day of the four Tsukune had to return from wherever he was hiding and explain himself to the sou-taichou. Soifon was standing in the gym early with hopes of being able to catch her subordinate as he walked in and beat some sense into him. He knew very well what it meant if he went AWOL, or if what the sou-taichou suspects is true; he'd be thrown into the Maggot's Nest for five years for going AWOL, and a minimum of twenty years for conspiracy or even being executed. That was something she wasn't sure that Tsukune would be able to endure because of Ghoul; that sort of solitary confinement could break his will to the point where he would lose himself to his Hollow side.

If that were to happen, could she really look at, or even think about Tsukune the same way? Ghoul might be a piece of Tsukune, but he was completely different at the same time; he was dark, murderous, filled with anger and hate, but at the same time he wasn't like normal Hollows. He showed restraint, control, and practiced skill when he took over Tsukune while the Werewolf was attacking him; even returning control to Tsukune when he saw how frightened Yachiru was becoming. He didn't act like the primitive beasts she had trained to kill since she could walk; something was off about Tsukune's Hollow side. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Ghoul said something that Tsukune would've said when he saw the look on the child like fuku-taichou's face; _'I'm sorry you had to see this'_.

'_Worried about your little crush?'_ Suzumebachi teased sensing Soifon's concern.

'_He is not my little crush'_ she said back.

'_I guess you're right;'_ with a sigh followed by a grin _'he's your HUGE crush.'_

'_He is my subordinate; it is my job to keep him in line.'_

'_We both know you're more of the submissive;'_ the bee like zanpakuto giggled _'that dream you had last night even supports that.'_

'_I don't know what you're talking about;'_ the taichou tried to lie.

'_What was it you said in your dream, oh yea;'_ as the bee cleared her throat to imitate her wielder _'"Please let me cum; I'm your horny little sex slave, please let me cum, I promise I'll behave Tsukune~!" all while you were moaning in pleasure and in the doggie position.'_

Soifon turned beet red half way through Suzumebachi quoting her from the dream she had last night; second one in less than a week. It was bad enough when Yoruichi teased her; now that her own zanpakuto was practically betraying her to join in on the 'hints to loosen up', as Yoruichi calls them. She's said it before and she'll say it again; at least with only Yoruichi teasing her she could walk away.

"If yer gettin' sick;" she heard Jagerjaquez say "stay the fuck away from me. This damn gigai can't do shit right; I've already had to fight something off."

"You act as if it is a surprise you caught something with how often you go screwing that sensei;" she said bluntly to him, which made him glare at her "why are you here anyway?"

"If I had to guess;" holding back his comments till later "the same reason you are. Aono ain't the type to just go AWOL; somethin's up and I wanna know what before that Old Fart decides to have him return to the Seireitei. And for your information, you sex deprived shinigami;" he spat at her "Shizuka and I haven't fucked in a few days. Last night we went to a sushi bar she knew of that was in the Living World and had a conversation about different species of Yokai."

The Arrancar had had enough of the sexually frustrated taichou assuming that he only fucked all the time. At least Aono ignored the fact that he's an Arrancar and got to know him before making any judgments about him; hell, even Kurosaki knew he had a personality and a brain that wasn't located below the waist. That was just one reason he didn't get along with many female Arrancar, they all thought he was only focused on who he can get in the bed; that's not to say he didn't screw a certain pigtailed Arrancar a few times, or a few others. That was only his primal drive though; he only really gave a shit about Nelliel because she at least gave him a chance to show her he wasn't just another beast like Nnoirta.

A long silence followed as they both just waited for their pupil to walk through the gym doors. He had always showed up early so he could get a quick training session in; it was always Hakuda practice, which consisted of him simply going through the steps to make sure he had them down, but it was enough.

"What are you and Aono hiding?" the Arrancar asked finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know what you're talking about;" lying.

"Bull fuckin' shit!" with a glare "I know Hollow reiatsu when I feel it, and I felt it from him a few times. Rarely when I'm trainin' him, last week when that Werewolf attacked him, and when he fought against that sawed off prick a few days ago. I might enjoy fightin' but I'm not a fuckin' moron;" as his eyes narrowed "it would make it easier to train him if I knew what the fuck I had to work with."

"If he has a Hollow;" she said "I don't know anything about it."

"Whatever;" as he walked off "if he ain't here by now, he ain't comin' at all; I'm gonna go down to the canyon and train for a bit."

He knew she had lied about knowing nothing about Aono having a Hollow; he saw the look on her face when he felt the Hollow like reiatsu. He could read people better than others thought and he could see she was worried about him, it was written all over her face; just as it was now. Of course, he had no room to talk; he was worried about the brown haired shinigami too, for some weird reason. Maybe it was because of the fact that, unlike other shinigami, he was giving the Arrancar a chance or didn't care about his origins; it could also be the fact that the kid was starting to grow on him.

-Yachiru and Kokoa-

Yachiru couldn't figure out where her transportation had disappeared to and it annoyed her; she hated having to walk on her own. The tiny fuku-taichou had snuck into Chocolate-Hair's room to see if he was in there this morning, but he wasn't; he was still being mean and hiding from everyone. When the brown haired boy carried her around she had someone to talk to; luckily Strawberry-chan was walking with her, so it wasn't as bad as it would've been.

"What's with all the booths being set up?" the pink haired girl asked.

"The clubs were gonna have their recruiting day over the weekend," the red haired vampiress explained "but because that weakling you use for transportation was fightin' Kuyo-teme, they rescheduled for today after classes."

"Chocolate-Hair isn't weak;" Yachiru said with a smile "he just doesn't like fightin'. That's why he always holds back."

Kokoa lost her footing when she heard that.

"He was still holdin' back when fightin' that damn Youko?" in complete disbelief.

"Hai;" in a cheerful voice "otherwise it wouldn't have been any fun for him. If he went all out it would've been over too soon for him to enjoy the fight."

"You just said he doesn't like fightin';" Kokoa said with an irritated tone "either he enjoys fightin' or he doesn't. So which is it?"

"Ummm;" as she put her finger on her chin "both;" with a smile "he doesn't want to fight most of the time, but when he really gets into it;" as she remembered his fight with the Kitsune "there's a look in his eyes that shows he's havin' fun."

-Grimmjow-

The panther like Arrancar finally made it to the entrance to the underground training area; there had been plenty of time to kill and he felt like walking. As he went to push on the secret door, his hand stopped just before he felt the rough texture of the cement door; something was preventing him from opening the door. He pushed harder and got no results from it. It didn't take him long to figure out that he was being stopped by a barrier of some sort. He closed his eyes and focused on increasing his Pesquisa all the way to try to figure out who was inside; although he already had a good idea.

"Only Aono?" with a confused tone "there's no fuckin' way he can make somethin' like this. This damn thing's blockin' too much reiatsu."

With a quick burst of sonido, he vanished. He knew who he was going to talk to about this; mainly because he could only think of one person that can make barriers.

"Is he in there?" the Arrancar asked Ruby as he busted through the doors.

"You can't go in;" as she got up to stop him from reaching the Head Master's office doors "he's in a meeting."

Grimmjow ignored her as he simply kicked the doors open and saw the hooded man and a boy with long black hair that was braided and dressed in a Chinese outfit. The boy looked to be about Aono's age, maybe a year younger at the most though; he was nowhere near as brave either, the boy was shaking in his seat because of the look Grimmjow had on his face.

"**You are earlier than I expected;"** the hooded man said with a smile **"I was hoping to be done talking with my old friend. Jagerjaquez Grimmjow, former Sexta Espada, meet Fuhai Touhou, master of the dark arts, my sensei, and the most sensitive of the Hades Lords."**

Grimmjow looked at the boy with a confused look; that snot nosed brat was supposed to be a Hades Lord? There was no way he was going to believe that for even a second. Then the name hit him.

"Back the fuck up!" he said in complete disbelief "yer telling me that this snot nose brat that looks like he can't even take a basic Hollow is the single most feared man to even Adjuchas class Hollows in what you living call China?" he exploded into laughter "this is fuckin' rich!"

"No;" a new voice said to him "the boy you see is my grandson;" Grimmjow looked around to try to find the source of the voice "down here."

Grimmjow looked down to the chair that was next to the one the boy was sitting in and saw an elderly man with a smoking pipe hanging out of his mouth. The man looked like he was barely three feet tall, had long white hair, and spectacles that stayed close to his eyes. Only two seconds after laying eyes on the old man, he was on the ground laughing.

"**It would seem your reputation doesn't do you justice"** the Exorcist sigh.

"It would seem so;" with a noticeably irritated tone "unless you wish for me to put you through several walls for insulting my grandson, I suggest you shut your mouth;" as he flared his youki at the Arrancar.

Grimmjow stopped laughing as the old man's reiatsu made him feel like there was a Gillian stepping on him and not letting up. This tiny man was able to exert this much pressure with his reiatsu, which was at an unknown level to him, and still look like he wasn't even trying; this man was even scarier than the hooded man.

"That's better;" he said as he let up "now what is it you interrupted our conversation for?"

"I think I know where Aono is;" Grimmjow said as he got up.

"**Really? That's good, now we can have him explain himself to Yamamoto to prevent him from being charged with conspiracy and getting thrown into the Maggot's Nest;"** as he stood up.

"One problem though;" Grimmjow added "there's some sorta barrier keeping his reiatsu concealed and everyone out."

"Sounds like one of mine;" the master of the dark arts said "I'll go with your friend here and examine the barrier. You have more important things to worry about Tenmei;" as he hopped out of his chair and walked over to Grimmjow "lead the way."

Grimmjow led the small old man through the office; he doubted that the most feared man in China could move very fast at his age.

"Can we pick up the pace?" the old man asked "you have a class to teach, and I have a barrier to assist in repairing and manga to read."

The self proclaimed 2D Otaku might look old, but he had just as much energy, if not more, than several teenagers; not to mention he knew he was pretty good at shunpo. He was the only Hades Lord that could use the shinigami ability, but he knew that it was probably because of how close to death he really was; he was saving as much of his life energy as he could by taking the form of an old man.

"Fine;" with a shrug "just try to keep up" as he vanished with sonido.

When Grimmjow showed up at the hidden door, he expected to have left the old man in the dust.

"You could've gone faster;" he heard beside him.

The Arrancar looked at the man with a surprised look in his eyes as he tried to figure out how he kept up. Living people shouldn't be able to use abilities like shunpo and sonido, other than Werewolves but that was their natural speed.

"I'm an impatient man;" Fuhai said "where is the barrier at?"

Grimmjow pointed at the masterly disguised door and watched as the old man walked up to it and put his hand on it. Fuhai immediately felt the reiatsu within the barrier and a smile grew across his wrinkled lips. There were two reiatsu signatures within the barrier; each only slightly different than the other, which meant that Aono Tsukune had manifested his zanpakuto spirit. But that wasn't the true reason he was smiling; no, the actual reason was that he recognized one of the signatures as his old friend Akasha.

"Just as I thought;" looking at the Arrancar "this is one of my barriers…"

"So break the damn thing so I can knock some fuckin' sense into Aono."

"I'm afraid I can't do that;" with a smile "you see, there are two people in this barrier" he began explaining before the Arrancar could ask "one of which is indeed your friend Aono Tsukune. However, the other person is an old friend of mine who must have became his zanpakuto; which is why my barrier is here. I taught her various seals and barrier techniques back before the one known as Alucard attempted to destroy the human race."

"Just open the fuckin' thing;" Grimmjow said as he began to grow impatient.

He didn't care for or want a history lesson; he just wanted to knock some sense into his pupil.

"Not only are you impatient like myself;" Fuhai sighed "you are arrogant as wells as ignorant. I designed this barrier of one specific purpose;" as his eyes became visible through his shades "to block out reiatsu that is anything less than that of a very high level taichou. The fact that you were able to detect anything within the barrier shows that the boy you seek is unleashing massive amounts of reiatsu, but what you sensed wasn't his reiatsu. His reiatsu is still much too low for anyone to be able to detect within it; no, what you sensed was his zanpakuto."

"What?" with complete shock.

He knew that a zanpakuto for shinigami was essentially a copy of their wielder. For Aono's zanpakuto to have reiatsu of a high level taichou, Aono himself had to have massive amounts hidden deep within himself. The shinigami was holding out on more than just his weird reiatsu; his true strength was being hidden from everyone, even his taichou.

"The only thing I can think of that would explain a zanpakuto spirit being out of its blade;" as he looked at the hidden door "is bankai training."

-Soifon-

The petite taichou watched as the first students began showing up and wondering where the hell Jagerjaquez was at. Normally she wouldn't care, but he had a class to teach and she wasn't in the mood for her former enemy going AWOL as well. She was sure she'd finally snap if he did that; she had put up with his crap for far too long.

"GODDAMN ARROGANT PRICKS!" she heard the voice of the small vampire shout with anger.

"It's not their fault ya don't look strong;" she heard the tiniest fuku-taichou say.

That comment only infuriated the already angry vampire even more and caused her to release a surprising amount of reiatsu. Now Soifon was getting curious about what happened; so she walked over to the two.

"What happened to have you shouting in the gym?" she asked the red head.

"She went to ask the Karate Club if she could join but they said she couldn't 'cause she's a girl;" Yachiru explained while Kokoa continued to release reiatsu.

Soifon was no stranger to men thinking that women were weaker than them just because they have boobs instead of dicks. Now she had a personal mission for herself that would show the Karate Club women were not to be underestimated.

"I'll handle it after classes today;" she said as she walked away.

"Yukari already said she has somethin' for me to try;" Kokoa said finally getting a hold of herself "somethin' about it makin' me older or some shit like that. If I'm older then I'll be stronger; that's how vampires are. The older we are, the stronger we are."

"Brute strength only make you look like a barbarian unless you know how to use it;" Soifon said as she stopped "it is skill that determines the outcome of a battle, not just 'who is stronger'. And I will demonstrate this later today."

Yachiru only smiled as she was ready to watch a good fight already; Kokoa only had a confused look on her face. Her kind had always used brute force to overcome several enemies; it's worked in the past so why change it? Hell, it's even worked for her Onee-sama; so there had to be nothing wrong with it.

-Later-

Kokoa was talking with Yukari about the 'Grow-Grow Drops' that the little witch had created. The tiny witch needed a volunteer to test them to see if they had the desired affects and what side effects happen. If everything went accordingly, Kokoa would grow to be roughly in her twenties, maybe close to her thirties. The small vampire was more than willing to try the experimental candy if it meant knowing how strong she'd be when she's older and show up those Karate Club pricks.

"So I just eat this like it's normal candy?" Kokoa asked.

"Yep;" Yukari chimed "I'm not sure how long it'll last though. Could be anywhere from ten minutes to an hour; I've only done tests on rats so far with slightly mixed results. On average though," looking over her data "you should have about fifteen minutes."

"Good enough for me;" as she grabbed one of the mint-sized pills.

"You might want to put on bigger clothes first;" Yukari warned "there's no telling how big you'll get;" pointing at the vampire's chest.

Kokoa only blushed slightly at the thought of having boobs that were larger than her Onee-sama's. That'd be great, but if she was in her normal outfit when the effects of the experimental candy took hold, she could regret not changing first. After a few minutes, and guessing about how much she would grow all around by using her Onee-sama as a best guess, she was wearing an outfit that was too big for her now but she was confident she would fill it out after she ate the 'Grow-Grow Drops'. Her outfit now resembled her Onee-sama's, since she took a skirt, shirt, bra, and panties from the older vampire's room, only without the jacket.

"Here we go;" the red haired vampire said with a gulp before eating the pill.

-Karate Club-

The varying levels of belt were snickering as several students tried to break the record that Haiji had set his freshmen year; eleven tombstones with one hit. So far the closest anyone had gotten was four tombstones.

"Is everyone giving up?" one member asked the crowd.

"I'll do it;" they heard a woman's voice say.

Everyone turned to see a much older Kokoa dressed like Moka, minus the rosary, jacket, silver hair and red eyes, standing next to the youngest student in the school. The once small vampire now had longer hair that was still in its duel ponytails, a defined feminine figure that gave her the hourglass shape, and breasts that looked to be the same size as Moka's. The entire Karate Club busted out laughing at her.

"No women are allowed in this club, so you're wasting your time;" another member said.

"Scarred of losing yer record to a girl?" she asked them with narrowed eyes.

The entire club looked back at the vampire with glares of anger. She had practically just challenged all of them in a fight and they weren't going to let that slide at all.

"What kinda fuckin' idiot thinks that women can't fight?" the voice of Grimmjow said from behind her "I know of three women that can put me on my ass in a heartbeat."

The now older vampire looked back to see the panther demon staring at the entire club with anger. It caught her completely off guard that he would stick up for her; especially after she called him weak on his first day and attacked his servant every day.

"Fine;" a third member said "just don't cry when you can't break a single one;" looking at Kokoa.

Kokoa set the money in the wager box as she walked onto the stage and eyed the stacked tombstones. She knew that this wasn't something that she could stop her fist on the first one; she'd have to follow all the way through with her punch. As she raised her fist, everyone in the crowd watched with building suspense; no one was sure if she'd actually break any of them or if she'd destroy every single one. With a battle cry, she brought her fist down and smashed the top thirteen tombstones. Everyone in the crowd had their jaws on the ground in surprise and disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

"I'll take that;" Kokoa said as she took the money she had won and walked off stage.

Yukari started to drool when Kokoa gave her half the money she had won; now she had made enough to make up for how much she spent developing the growing candy with extra leftover. Kokoa was busy admiring her new strength and looks in a window as the young witch mumbled to herself incoherently. The vampire was surprised at how strong she was; if she had to guess she'd say she was almost as strong as her Onee-sama. Plus, as she started to giggle, her boobs were just as big.

"That was a nice thing you did Grimmjow;" she heard Nekonome-sensei say.

"Brat earned her jockstrap when she attacked Eiyu;" the panther said "I just wanted to see if she could fill it or if it gave her that empty feeling. Judging by how she called out that club, it ain't very empty."

Kokoa looked at the reflection in the window and could see the two sensei talking. She suddenly had a level of respect for the panther demon; he had given her a shot when no one else was going to.

"Hey, girl;" she heard someone call to her.

She turned around and saw the members of the Karate Club that tried to keep her from doing the challenge they had set up. They were varying degrees; ranging from white belt all the way up to brown.

"You still wanna join the Karate Club?" he asked her.

"Not anymore;" as she started to walk away "yer just a group of weaklings."

Before she could keep walking, the group had surrounded her.

"You think we're just gonna let you walk away with our money?" he laughed.

"Bring…" before a puff of smoke surrounded her and she was suddenly a little kid again, only much younger "WHAT THE HELL?" as she looked at Yukari.

"I told you what that I wasn't sure what the side effects would be;" the witch said sheepishly "I've only done tests on rats, remember?"

The entire group that had them surrounded started laughing. They had came over in the group expecting to have to fight a powerful vampire; not some snot nose brat. That didn't stop them from charging the small girls though. Kokoa and Yukari covered their faces and waited for the pain that they knew was coming. The duo heard a swish followed by the sound of a fist connecting with someone's jaw; when they looked they saw Soifon spinning around and knocking out two more members.

The taichou grabbed a fist and flipped the owner over her and onto the ground right in front of the two she had just saved. Before she could continue her assault, someone grabbed her in a headlock.

"Being a woman won't protect you bitch;" her captor said.

She elbowed him in the gut and kicked his knees to the side before throwing him through the window that Kokoa was admiring herself in earlier. The window shattering got a number of people's attention and they started to watch as the petite woman landed a series of punches in a brown belt's stomach before kicking him with a round house kick to the ground. Only seconds later, the rest of the group that was starting to attack Kokoa and Yukari was now on the ground with pain shooting through their bodies.

"You are all trash;" she spat at them "ganging up on females because you can't think with anything other than your fist and your dicks. How pathetic."

"That was boring;" Yachiru complained.

"What's going on here?" she heard a familiar voice ask.

She turned around to see Kuyo.

"I believe it is my place to punish my club members;" a second voice said "not yours."

She recognized the voice as belonging to the lolicon president of the Karate Club.

"That doesn't excuse Soifon-sensei for attacking students;" Kuyo said.

"Shove it up yer ass;" Grimmjow spat "yer just pissed that someone else did yer job for ya."

"She was well within her rights to attack my club members;" Haiji said in a serious tone "had I been faster, I would've been right beside her beating some sense into them."

The two had a stare off as everyone waited for either something else to be said or a fight to break out. To everyone's surprise, the leader of the Safety Committee merely walked away without another word.

"That could've gone worse;" he said with a smile as he turned around to be met by a punch to the face from Soifon.

"Either reign in your subordinates;" in a threatening tone "or I will put them through a workout that is known for killing people;" as she walked away.

Haiji only held his nose as it bled as he turned to the girls that his club had attacked. The two looked at him with a mix of a glare and a looked that showed they were worried about what could happen to them. This guy was a full black belt and stronger than the ones that attacked them; they were expecting anything. Or so they thought.

"Your both so cute;" he cheered as he grabbed them and brought them in to hug them.

Neither of them was expecting the black belt to be acting like this; it didn't seem right for someone that had just stood up to the head of the Safety Committee. By standing up to the leader of the Safety Committee he showed he was on a level of badassness that was higher than where Eiyu stood, but this completely ruined it. Kokoa was struggling to get free of the lilocon's hold, but found she wasn't strong enough; Yukari had a solution though and it came just in time since the lilocon grabbed her butt.

"SEXUAL HARASSMENT!" Yukari shouted as she summoned several wash pans and hit him over the head with them.

The sound of metal crashing on his head rang through the courtyard as Haiji let go of the two small girls; one of which, Kokoa, kicked him in the shins before they both ran off. Everyone else just sweat dropped at the sight of the black belt holding his shin while muttering something about cute little girls. The two girls continued to run until they felt they were a safe distance from the lilocon pervert; almost the other side of campus, near the dorms.

"We should be safe;" Yukari said between pants.

"So how do we fix this?" Kokoa asked as she struggled to hold up the clothes she was wearing to keep herself covered.

"The only thing we can do is wait to see if the effects wear off;" Yukari sighed.

"IF!" Kokoa shouted at her "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'IF'?"

"I haven't seen this side effect in any of my earlier tests;" the witch said sheepishly "I'll need to take notes as I observe you until the effects wear off…"

Kokoa only growled as she clung onto the fabric to keep her modesty; the witch didn't have a clue how long this was going to last. That was just great, right when she was starting to enjoy being an adult she gets reverted to a freaking kid. A sigh escaped her as she remembered how she was treated back home, like a little child that couldn't do anything; she hated it with a passion.

"I need something to fight;" she growled as she looked around "he'll do perfectly" with a large evil grin when she spotted her victim.

-Hanataro-

The seventh seat had managed to sneak around the campus while looking for Tsukune without being spotted by one Shuzen Kokoa all day. He knew she had classes, but it was still difficult since he stuck out like a sore thumb in his blue nurse outfit. So far he hasn't seen the one he was sent here to deliver the file to, nor had he heard anything about his whereabouts. Odds were that he was going to have to spend another day at the creepy place; which also meant that he'd have to spend another day avoiding the red head that wanted Tsukune's lab results.

Even though she wanted to pretty much kill him for the file he was carrying around, he had to admit he thought the girl was cute; in her own way. Her eyes were a beautiful green, and if she'd let her hair down he was sure that she'd look as beautiful as her eyes hinted she could be. A chuckle escaped him; he was starting to sound like a certain someone from the Eleventh Division.

"Kokoa!" he heard a voice shout "you don't know what could happen if you strain yourself! You need to stop!"

Hanataro looked over to the source of the voice and saw a girl that was dressed up as a witch chasing after Kokoa; who was attacking a boy with long braided hair. He felt bad for the boy and decided to go help him; even if it meant nearly getting killed by the red head. He ran towards the group and made sure that the vampiress could see him as he caught up to the boy she was chasing.

"I'll distract her;" he said to the boy "you get out of here."

"She's been chasing me for the past five minutes;" the boy said back "why would she just stop to chase you?"

"GIVE ME THAT FILE!" they heard the angry vampire shout on cue.

"'Cause I have something she wants;" as he turned away from the boy.

The boy only looked back briefly to see that the girl had stopped chasing him to pursue the other boy; with the witch still chasing her to try to get her to stop running around. He hung his head low knowing that he was a coward and a weakling. He came here with his great-great-grandfather so he could learn how to be strong and brave, yet he failed.

"GIVE ME THAT DAMN FILE!" Kokoa shouted again as she smashed a war-hammer Kyo on the ground.

She didn't see the boy she was now chasing this morning, but she was damn well going to make sure she made up for the lost time. The file that he had was something that she wanted so badly she could justify 'accidently' killing the boy for. Even in her younger body, she was strong enough to swing Kyo and fast enough to keep up with the male nurse. With another heave, she swung at him again; this time catching the back of his foot and sending him falling to the ground.

Kokoa immediately pounced on him, practically ripped open his bag, and began searching for the file he was carrying. She only became angrier as she pulled a first aid kit, a container of bluish liquid, rubber gloves, and a second first aid kit out of his bag; the file wasn't in the bag.

"WHERE IS IT?" she demanded to know as she flipped the boy over, turned Kyo into a katana and held the blade to his throat.

"I-I-I-I hid it;" with fear in his voice.

"WHERE?" she hissed as she got closer to his face.

Yukari finally caught up to see the small vampire straddling the boy she had chased and seemed to be _very_ close to kissing him. The little witch couldn't help but to begin giggling at the sight.

"WHAT THE HELL'S SO DAMN FUNNY?" Kokoa demanded to know.

"You never told me you have a boyfriend;" still giggling.

Hanataro had a worried look on his face when he saw the slight anger that was beginning to build up on Kokoa's face. Her blade was still pressed tightly against his throat, if she drew it to attack the girl that had just accused him of being the small vampire's boyfriend she could end up slitting his throat. Kokoa on the other hand, she was red with anger that the witch would dare accuse her of something like having a boyfriend; she had more important things to worry about, like kicking Kenpachi's ass. Even if she did want a boyfriend, she sure as hell wouldn't have one as weak as the boy she was on top of… The vampire looked down and saw that she was on top of the boy.

"THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" she shouted at the witch defensively.

"I'm sure" the witch said sarcastically.

"HE'S A NURSE THAT HAS SOME SORTA TEST RESULTS THAT KENPACHI HAD DONE;" returning her glare to the boy she was on top of "AND I WANT THAT FILE!"

The little witch tuned everything out when she heard that the boy is a nurse. This could help her figure out what happened to Kokoa and why the same didn't happen to the rats she had done her previous tests on. With his knowledge of the body he would be able to figure out why what happened happened and possibly be able to help fix it.

"If he's a nurse then he can help me figure out what happened to you;" Yukari said as she saw the vampire _very_ close to the boy again "if you're going to make out with him you should just go ahead and do it" as she shook her head.

"HOW MANY TIMES TO I GOTTA TELL YA;" she yelled at the witch "HE AIN'T MY BOYFRIEND. HE JUST HAS SOMETHIN' I WANT…"

"I'm sure;" with a perverted giggle.

It took the shinigami and vampire a few seconds before they finally caught up to what the witch meant; at least Kokoa caught up, Hanataro… not so much. The vampire turned beet red when she realized that she could've made her last statement a little more clear.

"Yer pretty perverted for a twelve year old;" Kokoa said begrudgingly as she got off Hanataro "here's how this is goin' to work" as she pointed her katana at Hanataro "yer gonna help figure out how she fucked up…"

"HEY!" Yukari shouted at the accusation.

"Then yer gonna give me that damn file" as her eyes narrowed on him.

The seventh seat only had one thought running through his mind at the moment;

'_Why me?'_

-Lunch the next day-

Ruby was given the day off to spend time with her friends, minus Tsukune since he hasn't come out of the training area that he sealed himself in; if only she knew. She was currently enjoying the meal in front of her with the ones that saved her from the darkness in her heart roughly half a year ago. Yukari was arguing with Kurumu about chest sizes as usual; Yachiru and Rangiku were adding in their two cents every now and then with their respected sizes. Mizore was looking down her jacket at her own chest looking like she wished it was larger. Moka was currently glaring at the boy that her younger sister, who was now looking like her age again, was chasing with a Morningstar; something told the older witch that the red eyed vampire was growing more and more suspicious about Kenpachi's true identity. Her eyes turned to the sky and saw a few clouds floating in the air stop moving completely; this made her eyes go wide. The Head Master told her about something called Garganta that would cause the air around where it was going to open to stop moving.

"We need to get everyone out of here!" she said as she stood up.

-Grimmjow and Soifon-

The two were currently filling out paperwork for the students' progress report that the Head Master seemed so intent on having done. Soifon was used to having to fill out paperwork like this for her own Division; normally it would give her an idea on how her division was progressing, but she had no idea about why it was needed here. Grimmjow was growling at the stack of paperwork; he was a warrior, not a desk-jockey. His hands were meant to spill blood and inflict pain in the age old battle of 'Who's the strongest'. His eyes narrowed as he felt something wrong; right on cue, their Soul Phones began going off.

"Crimson;" Soifon said with wide eyes "Espada."

The two immediately disappeared from the office they were in and headed towards the soon to be battlefield.

-Mizore-

The yuki-ona looked at the blonde woman that walked out of the rift that was ripped open. She had the lower half of her face covered by a jacket that didn't even come close to covering up her boobs, a small sword on her back that looked like it would be almost impossible to draw, and a serious look in her eyes. Then she saw more people step out of the rift. One was a girl that was dressed in black with knee high combat boots, black hair that was up in two pigtails, and had glowing red eyes that matched Moka's perfectly. The next was another girl that looked a little older than Yukari wearing a sailor fuku dress that had pink pokadots all over it, jaw length hair that had what appeared to be horns coming out of either side of her head and had pink ribbon tied around them. The third was a tanned girl with long, slightly curly blonde hair who was wearing a white dress that looked like it belonged to a story book princess; complete with the heels and tiara.

"Shirayuki Mizore;" Harribel said "you're coming with us. Should you attempt to resist, we are authorized to use force."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Kenpachi Zaraki sat in a garden with Retsu; the main reason for today's visit was because of the fact he was getting worried about Yachiru. His tiny fuku-taichou that was his unofficial adopted daughter was always with him for the past century and it was making him feel weird not having her around. Luckily the only ones in his Division that had noticed were his third and fifth seat, who suggested that he talk about it and said they wouldn't say a word about it; like hell he'd talk to them about missing the pink haired girl. It wasn't easy going from having a child clinging to his shoulder to not having the extra forty pounds.

"I guess I just miss the brat;" he sighed as he looked at his fellow taichou.

"The two of you were extremely close;" Retsu said with a soft smile "you said yourself that you raised her since you found her in the Kusajishi District. Even though you might enjoy fighting;" as she placed her hand on his chest "you still have a heart; no matter how hard you try to hide it, Yachiru knows it's there and so do I."

The taichou of the Fourth Division has seen the violent taichou's better side, and likes it. Despite his large and seemingly aggressive appearance, he was actually a good person. The first glimpse she got of his kinder side was when he asked her to dinner after Ichigo infiltrated the Seireitei and Aizen revealed himself as a traitor. Before she could even ask why he would do something so out of character for him; he simply said that he hated owing people anything. It was with those words that she remembered that Yachiru had brought him to her so he could be healed and that she was the one that told the large taichou that Mayuri was going to try to question Ikkaku.

She was surprised to find out that he was actually quiet the gentleman; still agitated when he heard questions like 'what's she doing with someone like him?', but he was still a gentleman to her. He paid for everything they had for dinner, held doors open for her, and she could tell he was at least trying to keep his massive amount of reiatsu under control the entire night.

"I guess;" with a small chuckle followed by a yawn "ya ever think about not making this place so borin'?"

"You know I like having things be peaceful;" she answered with another soft smile.

"Yea, but for me;" as he looked out at the various flowers and pond full of koi fish "peaceful things make me wanna take a nap."

It was a bit of a habit he picked up from his time in the Rukongai districts; when things were peaceful, he would take a nap but still be partly awake in case someone tried to attack him. Living in the worst districts typically meant that he couldn't sleep just anywhere and when he did sleep it would only be for about half an hour or so at a time.

"We can go for a walk" Retsu suggested.

"Sounds good;" as he stood up and then helped the female taichou up "afterwards I think I'll go ask the Old Fart if I can go visit Aono and Yachiru. I wonder how much stronger he's gotten."

"You didn't hear?" with a surprised look.

"Hear what?" with a confused look.

"Aono-san has gone AWOL."

Right as she said that, she knew she had made a slight mistake. She knew that the brown haired boy would take care of the girl, but also knew that he had given the large taichou his word that nothing would happen and he would take care of her. He couldn't do that if he was MIA.

"AONO!" he shouted in such a loud voice that it rang throughout the Seireitei.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired boy sneezed as he and Bloodriver pushed away from each other.

"Are you alright Tsukune-kun?" the vampire asked him.

"Hai;" with a look that showed he was worried "for something tells me I need to be careful when I go back to class."

Bloodriver raised a confused eyebrow at his statement; she put up the barrier so he shouldn't be able to sense all the reiatsu that was building up outside.


	24. Chapter 24

"Shirayuki Mizore;" Harribel said "you're coming with us. Should you attempt to resist, we are authorized to use force."

Everyone looked at the yuki-ona wondering what was going on to cause four people to show up to take her somewhere. Sure she kept things to herself, but right now she had to explain what was going on. This was completely out of the ordinary; even for the snow girl.

"Mizore?" Kurumu asked.

"I was hoping that Eiyu would have returned by now;" she answered looking away from her friend "this way he could go with me to the Flower Offering Ceremony" she saw the confused look on everyone's face "I turn seventeen this week."

The next thing she knew, she was smacked across the face, with enough force to knock her lollipop out of her mouth, by Kurumu; who looked furious. The succubus might not have been the smartest person, but she knew her friend well enough to know that this was connected to the letter Mizore had received two days ago.

"You said that letter was nothing!" the succubus shouted at her "why would you lie like that?"

"I didn't want to get you involved."

Another smack could be heard through the courtyard. No one was surprised to see that it was Kurumu that slapped her again. Mizore knew why her friend had slapped her a second time; she would have to be stupid not to know. Last year they had gotten involved in things that Tsukune didn't want them involved it, but regardless they were friends and they stuck by him.

"What are you doing here;" Moka asked as she stood up "Akua, Kahlua?"

The two vampires had completely different expressions of their faces. Kahlua looked like she was ashamed of the reason she was with the blonde Arrancar; while Akua looked about like a gitty school girl at the sight of Moka.

"You're so beautiful now;" Akua said with a slight blush before reality hit her "your… seal broke…"

Moka's eyes only narrowed at her sisters as neither of them even tried to answer her question. She hadn't seen either of them in years; had they just showed up she would've been happy to see them. But after hearing the threat from the blonde woman that had her face covered, she knew this wasn't a social visit.

"They're working;" Kokoa said "the only time Kahlua ever leaves the castle is to work. So who is it you have to kill this time?" as she looked at her full sister.

"All I have to do is give the order" Harribel warned Mizore "and everyone in the area will be killed. You will come with us now."

With a static like boom and a swish, Grimmjow and Soifon showed up on the soon to be battlefield between the group of students and the new enemies. Grimmjow gave his usual arrogant smirk to the group before fighting the urge to laugh at the sight; he didn't have anything against women fighting, hell he thought it was kinda hot, but to only send women someone must be desperate. Soifon observed the enemies silently as she felt their reiatsu; only two were immediate threats, the Arrancar and the red eyed girl.

She recognized the Arrancar from the battle in the fake Karakura Town as the one that battled Hitsugaya. The Arrancar's strength wasn't the same as the Arrancar she herself fought, but it was still close; that meant that she might not be able to beat this Arrancar either. The taichou found herself grinding her teeth with irritation as her mind played back her fight in the fake town, how afraid she looked, and how close she came to dying.

She turned her attention to the red eyed girl, whose reiatsu was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was dark, almost like a black hole sucking in everything around it without any concern of what it was. While the level of reiatsu was only what she'd expect out of a fuku-taichou, it was that dark emptiness it held that nearly caused chills to run through her. This person was not someone she wanted to face in her gigai; the false body limited her abilities for her to be able to fight effectively.

Mizore was about to comply with the woman, but before she could she was interrupted.

"She's not going with you;" Kurumu said in a firm tone.

With those words, all her friends immediately stood up and were ready to fight; even Kokoa and Hanataro, who was more towards the back, but it was the thought that counted right?

"Kill whoever tries to stop you from apprehending Shirayuki Mizore;" Harribel said.

"Teehee;" the girl in the pokadot dress giggled "I wanna fight the boy in the back. He looks sooo weak;" as a slight blush grew on her face.

Before anyone could blink, the girl was already in front of Hanataro with two tanto drawn and cut his shoulder as she pushed him to the ground. Soifon was surprised at the girl's speed; even for a living person she was pretty fast. The girl giggled again as she lazily dodged the tarot cards Yukari launched at her. The girl only giggled more as the medic held his shoulder in pain while he tried to heal the injury as quickly as he could. He managed to get the wound to finally stop bleeding, but it still hurt a lot and his gigai wasn't made to handle the stress of combat.

"I could've killed you, you know;" she said with another giggle "do you want to know why I didn't?" without waiting for the answer "I think it's fun to tease weak people;" as she ran a finger along the dull side of one of her tanto.

Grimmjow had a confused look as two remain girls, again, had different expressions on their faces. The one that was dressed as a princess was crying her eyes out; the red eyed one was blushing as she looked at the silver haired vampire behind him. It didn't take him long to connect the dots for the red eyed girl.

"Incestual lesbian on the battlefield;" he laughed.

The next thing that everyone saw was a hand going through the panther's stomach. They all expected him to let out a shout of pain, but no; he simply grinned like he knew something.

"Ya missed;" he said as he pulled out his Mod Soul capsule.

Akua withdrew her hand and did back-flips to put some distance between her and the Arrancar. Her eyes widened when she saw that the hole she had just put into the man wasn't bleeding. Then it hit her.

"Arrancar;" she muttered as he swallowed the pill in his hands.

With a slight pop, Grimmjow was ejected out of the gigai and his normal form was seen. The gigai fell to the ground and began convulsing from the rapid blood loss that was turning the ground red. Everyone looked at what he was wearing and saw that it was similar to what Harribel was wearing; those that didn't already know that he was on the same side as they were quickly became fearful. Almost all, Kurumu and Mizore remembered that Eiyu could move in a way that created the same sound that their sensei had just made. That hinted to them that he was just like the blue haired man.

When they thought about it even further, Eiyu used an attack he called 'Cero' when he fought against Kuyo and Grimmjow had used something he called 'Gran Rey Cero'. The duo continued to wonder what the connection was with Eiyu's powers and their crazy sensei's; just what is a Fraccion and where do they come from? They were definitely going to look into it after they got out of the situation they were in.

"Nice aim though;" Grimmjow chuckled "alil further to the left or right and ya mighta actually hurt me. Now bring it!"

Akua couldn't stand the Arrancar's arrogance or disrespect to her any longer. She couldn't stand how this _thing_ thought he was better than a vampire of her level; she was a master assassin and marital artist earning the greatly feared nickname 'Black Devil'. Just as she was about to impale the arrogant Arrancar, she was blindsided with a powerful kick to the face that sent her flying. Grimmjow looked at Soifon with annoyance. Yea, she might have just saved his life; but he could easily see the black haired girl's movements and was about to dodge the incoming attack.

"What the fuck?" he growled at her.

"If you would have been paying attention;" she scolded "she is a practical fighter. Unlike you, she fights with skills that she spent time learning, perfecting and mastering on a level where she might be able to call them her own. That attack she used to impale you, there was no noise of her hand tearing through your body and yet it went right through you; it was as if she delayed her existence. You won't be able to beat someone that has skills like that; not with how you fight."

Grimmjow just looked at the two remaining enemies. There was no way in hell he was going to fight the still crying girl; that left only his former ally for him to fight. He knew this was going to suck; that damned painted taichou insisted on putting one of those limiter things on him as well as everyone else that was deployed to Yokai Academy.

"Looks like I'm fightin' you Harribel;" Grimmjow said with a grin as he drew his zanpakuto.

"You won't be able to cut me with your zanpakuto;" she replied calmly and unfazed "you were merely the Sexta, unable to even make a scratch on Nnoirta."

Grimmjow vanished with sonido and appeared next to Harribel ready to cut at least her arm off. He remembered the satisfied look in her eye when the dark skinned shinigami took his arm and wanted to see how she would like having hers removed. She always had that look in her eyes; the look that showed how little she thought of her opponents. The same look that Kurosaki had in his eyes that always pissed him off; the look that showed they believed they could win no matter what injuries they had already taken. When his zanpakuto hit her arm, it stopped and his eyes went wide.

"I told you;" as she grabbed the blade with her gloved hand "your zanpakuto won't cut me" as she kicked him in the gut sending him flying into the air.

The panther grit his teeth as he flew head over heels into the air; unable to build up enough spiritual particles to stop himself. He knew this was going to be a _very_ long fight; one that he might not even be able to limp away from like he did after his fight with Kurosaki. The only female Espada was ranked higher than him, able to defeat Ulquiorra in a fight; he knew better than to expect a victory in this fight. All he could do is hopefully stall until the Old Fart sent reinforcements to help deal with the Teresa Espada.

Harribel looked at the still crying vampire and gave her a look that said 'I gave you orders, now follow them'. The blonde vampiress tried to wipe the tears from her face and only succeeded in staining her white gloves with what little make-up was on her face. She hated fighting for any reason, but above that, she hated killing; even when it was an order, it pained her to no end to know that she took a life.

"She's about to…" Kokoa tried to warn but was too late.

Kahlua appeared behind Ruby and stabbed her in her left kidney, with only her hand, before turning to stab the blue haired girl. Before her hand could pierce the succubus' skin though, someone grabbed her hand and managed to stop her. Her teary eyes managed to make out the image of her silver haired sister just before a kick was delivered into her stomach. The pain didn't register with her thanks to her ability often dubbed as 'Pain Stasis'; all she ever really does is over flow her body with power which heals the wound and dulls the pain so much that it becomes nonexistent until later. For those that truly knew about her species, they would know that the ability is called Charm.

The blonde vampiress tasted blood in her mouth, but ignored it as she recovered from the hit and landed an equally powerful kick to her sister's head. She knew that if she could knock her sisters out she wouldn't have to kill them, and the easiest way to knock out anyone was to deliver a powerful hit to the head. More tears flowed from her eyes as she watched Moka go through a wall; she knew that it would take a lot of strength to knock Moka out, but she didn't mean to put that much behind her attack.

Hanataro saw the older witch on the ground bleeding out and tried to get over to her so he could heal her. He wasn't a fighter, he's a medic and he had to do everything he could to save who he could; those were the words that his taichou told him when he first joined the Fourth Division. Right now he had to heal Ruby, since her wound was more of a threat to her life, and then get over to the silver haired vampire that was on the other side of the kitchen wall. Years of being bullied had allowed him to build a certain tolerance to some pain, but not the pain of the blade that was in his shoulder again.

"Where do you think you're going? Teehee;" the girl that had attacked him giggled "you can't help them;" seeing where he was trying to get to "so why not just do something useful and let me cause you pain?"

The medic let out a cry of pain as the girl stabbed him with her second blade in his other shoulder. The girl let out a moan to show the pleasure that filled her by hearing him cry out in pain. She wanted to cause him so much more pain; unfortunately, she was stopped when she had to jump off the boy because of the incoming kanabo.

"Why did you interrupt us?" the girl growled with anger.

"Cuz ya need some sense beat into ya;" Kokoa said as she placed the kanabo on her shoulder "let's see how ya do against a vampire."

"Fine;" the girl said in an angry tone "you look weak anyway. I'm Routier Deputy Leader of the Fourth Division of Fairy Tale."

"Shuzen Kokoa;" the vampire introduced herself "youngest daughter of Shuzen Issa and Gyokuro."

Routier charged at Kokoa and was blocked by the kanabo; she didn't expect the vampire's reflexes to be that good, but she should have known better since she was facing the head of Fairy Tale's daughter. Of course, her underestimating Kokoa's reflexes was justified by the fact that the girl was wielding a Bake-Bake Bat that is supposed to weigh over two hundred pounds. The deputy leader wasn't expecting the vampire to push her back and practically launch her backwards.

"Kyo;" Kokoa ordered "katana."

"Hai hai;" the bat said as he changed his shape.

The vampire readied her blade as she waited for the deputy leader to make her move. From what she had already seen, the girl was fast, possibly faster than any of the masked things she's fought, but she was curious about what she herself could do against an opponent like this. If she could at least be able to keep sight of the girl when she moved, she would be able to counter and hopefully find an opening to use. Luckily her vampire eyes were able to follow the girl as she charged at her; Kokoa blocked the one tanto only to watch the other one cut her shoulder, but it was only a graze since she managed to dodge having it go into her joint.

Kokoa pushed the girl off her to keep from getting cut again; the one she had just received might have only been a graze, but she felt that the next one wouldn't be shallow. Had she not dodged the last attack like she did, she knew that her muscle would've been too damaged to allow her to use her arm. Right now that wasn't something she needed; especially not with Hanataro busy healing Ruby's wound and trying to keep an eye on the fights around him so he could dodge if he needed to.

Metal rang out as Routier's attack was blocked again; the deputy leader was becoming annoyed that the vampire had interrupted her fun and wasn't letting her have more. She was enjoying making the boy cry out in pain; it gave her so much pleasure hearing him cry out like he did. Yet this annoying girl in front of her had to interrupt her; she pushed harder against the vampire's blade hoping to knock her off balance. But it didn't work, Kokoa's natural vampiric strength allowed her to not just keep balance, but kept her own blade from moving at all.

"Ya know;" Kokoa taunted "ya like teasin' weak people, but ya seem pretty weak yerself" as she pushed the girl back.

-Soifon-

The taichou looked at the black haired vampire as they both took a battle stance. While her own stance was that of Hakuda, she recognized the stance of her opponent as a Chinese form. This only made sense to the taichou since the girl was wearing what appeared to be Chinese style clothing.

"Are you sure you wish to fight me; shinigami-san?" Akua asked.

Soifon's eyes widened when the vampire asked her that. No, it wasn't out of fear, not by a long shot, but rather the fact that this living being knew she was a shinigami. It didn't make any sense to her.

"No need to look so surprised;" the vampire seemed to taunt her "I have killed several shinigami myself. None of them could even touch me; I hope you do better than they did."

A smirk grew on Soifon's face. She knew full well what the vampire was trying to do; she was aiming for a nerve to strike. It seemed that this vampire might know about shinigami, but didn't know that she was facing someone who didn't care if her peers died in the line of duty. Dying in the line of duty was something that was expected of a shinigami; even more so of a taichou.

"Taunting won't work against me;" Soifon warned "and let's see if _you_ can keep up."

With those words, Soifon vanished with a swish before reappearing next to the vampire mid way through a kick aimed for the neck. She wasn't surprised when her opponent ducked underneath her foot, and swatted it to the side while aiming a punch at her stomach. The vampire was more skilled than she originally thought; or maybe the gigai she was in was slowing her down that much. It was difficult for her to tell since she has only been in one fight, which wasn't really as much a fight as it was an ass whooping.

The taichou shunpo away from the incoming fist and reappeared next to the vampire ready to strike her kidneys. She knew vampires had reflexes that could rival most seated officers in the Gotei Thirteen, but her first attack should've hit dead on. There was something off about this vampire, and the reiatsu she was feeling from her wasn't letting her shake that feeling. Normally she would learn about any potential enemy's skills, but this sudden appearance was random. What could they gain by attacking now rather than doing this earlier like during the Survival Day; again she found herself saying the same thing, this sudden appearance was random. No; it wasn't random she realized. There was something, or rather someone, missing; Tsukune. It made perfect sense; with his disappearance and their sudden appearance they could make him look like a traitor.

After landing several punches to the vampire's side, she saw her opponent's leg move; so she did a back-flip to put enough distance to avoid the hit. This wasn't something she was used to; she had landed several powerful blows to a vital point on the body, but the vampire showed no signs of pain. She didn't know of anyone that could simply ignore the pain that comes from getting hit in the kidneys; at least everyone she's fought winced in pain, but never completely wrote it off.

"Why don't you leave that fake body behind and fight me seriously?" Akua asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

Soifon was slowly becoming annoyed at how much her opponent knew about shinigami. First the vampire could tell she was a shinigami despite being in a gigai, and now pointed out that she knew she was in one. Something was very off; perhaps the Arrancar told her about shinigami and how to tell a gigai apart from a real body. Just who was this girl and who did she work for?

"If you want to fight me when I'm not in my gigai;" the taichou replied "we will have to take it somewhere else. I have enough problems with your sister."

Akua seemed to let out a growl when the shinigami said the last part.

"Fine;" as she looked up to the roof of the mansion "we'll fight up there;" pointing at the new location.

Soifon vanished with a flick of shunpo as Akua used her natural speed and strength to run to the bottom of the wall just before jumping up to the roof. The two stood about twenty feet away from each other, staring at one another. Soifon hadn't fought anyone with real martial art skills since her fight with Yoruichi when Kurosaki invaded the Seireitei; that fight was the hardest she had ever pushed herself and it still wasn't enough, she hoped this wouldn't turn into a repeat of that fight. Akua hadn't had to face a martial art expert since that day almost seven years ago when she attempted to kill her dearest sister's mother and become a Shinso; this day was proving to most interesting for her.

"I was hoping to be able to thank that brown haired boy that broke Moka-chan's seal;" as the shinigami pulled out a candy dispenser looking device and swallowed a pill from it "but since I don't see him, I can only hope to kill you before he arrives and someone else starts to fight him."

Her eyes widened as she was suddenly hit with a large wave of youki that caught her completely off guard. She's never felt youki this strong before, not from any of the shinigami she had killed in the past. Then her eyes noticed that the shinigami was dressed differently than the ones she had fought before; instead of the usual kimono there were black bottoms that weren't anywhere near as loose, and she couldn't tell what type of top she wore because of the white haori that she was wearing and had tied tightly to her waist.

"Ginnosukem, hide somewhere where my gigai won't be damaged;" Soifon ordered the artificial soul.

With a nod, the feline mod soul was running to the stairwell.

-Rangiku-

The busty fuku-taichou had dodged as many of the attacks from the blonde vampire as she could and even retaliated with what little Hakuda she knew. It wasn't enough though; not with the limiter on and definitely not in her gigai. The only way she'd be able to do any real damage to the vampire she was fighting was to shed her gigai, to go against the orders she was given to maintain her cover. She was only three seconds away from pulling out her Mod Soul when she was saved by a fury of ice daggers and Kurumu catching the vampire's attention.

Given the current circumstances, her exiting her gigai and revealing herself as a shinigami might end up being not only required but justified as well. The presence of the Teresa Espada with the group could, no, is enough to allow her to show her shinigami form. The capture of the female Arrancar would allow them to learn who was organizing the hollow attacks on Las Noches as well as here at Yokai Academy. It will also allow them to organize a preemptive strike against the person and end it before any of the living became involved. Who was she trying to fool? If the Espada had teamed up with the living, and they were after Mizore, then the living are already involved; just more so now. She pulled out her Soul Phone and dialed the number for the Research and Development Institute.

"This is fuku-taichou Matsumoto Rangiku;" she said as soon as the line was answered "I need a spatial freeze of one kilometer of every combatant within one kilometer of my position, and a five kilometer spatial freeze around Jagerjaquez Grimmjow as he is fighting the Teresa Espada. I also request permission to release the limiters on Jagerjaquez Grimmjow, and Soifon-taichou."

"Spatial freeze initiated;" she heard back "request for limiter release forwarded to Yamamoto-sou-taichou. Will call back as soon as an answer is given."

Rangiku only watched as Kurumu and Mizore, both in their true forms, continued to push the blonde vampire back at a surprising rate. Their teamwork was amazing; it was much better than the three Fraccion she fought against in Fake Karakura Town. The duet never said a word to each other as they easily read each other's movements and fought in what resembled a dance-like style. As she watched to two continue to hold off the stronger opponent, she noticed that Tsukune also fought in a similar, dance-like manner; she wondered if these two were the reason for that.

The busty fuku-taichou looked around for Yachiru and saw her sitting on a wall watching all the fights with a smile on her face. She hated not being able to do anything because she was in her gigai; if she had spent more time training in Hakuda she would be able to actually fight. Her eyes wandered to the seventh seat that was almost done healing the Head Master's aide; he looked terrified but was focusing on what needed to be done.

She pulled out her Mod-soul dispenser, finally having enough of watching her friends just wear themselves out, and swallowed the pill. The second she swallowed the pill, she revealed her shinigami form. And not a second too late as she shunpo over to a weakened Kurumu and Mizore, drew her zanpakuto and saved them from the vampire's hand that was ready to impale at least Kurumu through the stomach.

Kahlua barely managed to do a back-flip to avoid getting her chest cut. She was thankful that the woman had stopped her attack though; it meant that she didn't have to kill the succubus. Her eyes widened though when she saw what the blonde woman was wearing; a shinigami uniform. Now she knew she couldn't hold back; the opponent that now faced her was someone that she couldn't risk under estimating. Just as she was about to engage the shinigami in combat, she saw the rubble that was on top of her sister begin to move and the silver haired girl standing with blood running from a cut on her scalp over her eye.

"You're one too;" Moka growled as she looked at Matsumoto.

The S-rank vampire knew that the busty blonde was hiding something, but didn't think she was similar to Tsukune. This explained why they spent so much time together, but still left a few unanswered questions as well as caused new ones to arise. If this woman was like Tsukune, then why was she here too? Then there was also the question of where Tsukune was at. His abilities would probably be more useful than hers of any of her friends'.

"We don't have time to talk about this;" Rangiku said as she dodged Kahlua's attack and swung Haineko at her.

The blonde vampire easily dodged the attempt to make a cut across her midsection. She quickly dodged the tarot cards that were launched at her by the small witch that was also protecting the yuki-ona she was here to retrieve. The vampire had no desire to hurt the girl, which is why she had refrained from actually attacking her, but if the small witch continued to assault her with those tarot cards she would have no choice but to knock her out.

"Growl; Haineko" Rangiku called out "Neko Rinbu!"

Before Kahlua could react she was trapped by an ash cloud that surrounded her in a sphere.

-Grimmjow-

The panther swung again at his opponent, only to have her grab the blade again and punch him in the gut causing blood to spill into his mouth. Every attack that he made against his former ally had only either bounced off her Hierro or merely made a small cut on her gloves, top, or pants. He knew she was given the rank of Teresa for a reason, but never thought that there was this much of a power gap between him and her. This was the only way to see how much stronger he had gotten; if he could just made a damn cut on her skin and draw blood it would show him that his spars against the Second Division Taichou hadn't all been for nothing.

It annoyed him that the female Arrancar hadn't even bothered to consider using her zanpakuto. He knew her well enough to know when she was contemplating using the weapon; her eyes would lock with her opponent's and there would be a slight twitch in her right hand. Of course he knew that he hadn't fought against her as many times as a certain sexist Arrancar, but he knew how to read his opponents; that is what has allowed him to dodge most of her attacks up till now.

"I'm gonna knock that look right outa yer eyes!" Grimmjow growled as he caught himself in midair.

He sonido behind her, just as she had predicted and she grabbed his wrist before the blade could make contact with her. That was his greatest weakness, fighting with only the primal instinct that drove him as a normal Adjuchas rather than learning actual practical skills. Sure it made it harder to predict his movements so she could counter, but it often meant that as soon as the movement started she could easily see the direction he was going to go with it; the only problem would be if he followed up with another attack.

Without even having to heave, she threw her former ally through a tree and crashing into the ground. This was too easy for her and she knew it; her reiatsu hadn't returned to its proper level yet and he has had more than a month to train to get stronger while she had to limit herself. In Las Noches she would actually have to try to block, dodge, and counter some of his attacks; yet right now she was simply swatting him away like an irritating fly. Not only was she simply swatting away, but he was slower; something wasn't adding up right and it was beginning to annoy her beyond reason.

Her eyes watched as the panther like Arrancar pushed the debris off of him, and then something caught her eyes; his Hollow Hole. For some reason she thought it had a larger diameter than it did now; it looked a few noticeable centimeters smaller. Of course she could easily be mistaken, he was a good distance away from her and at an odd angle; not to mention she hardly ever paid any attention to his torso, which he always kept exposed. If she was seeing correctly though, she would have to look into The Legend and see what was true. She hoped like hell she was mistaken; Hollows don't keep any written record, everything was passed through stories and rumors, which would make finding the truth very difficult.

Now she was getting confused and worried over nothing; with a small shake of her head she quickly regained focus on her battle. As her opponent collected his weapon, she felt a massive surge in reiatsu that she didn't recognize at all; it was alien to her and felt almost as powerful as the human boy's that infiltrated Las Noches. No, it wasn't that strong; something had been keep all the reiatsu contained for some reason and whatever it was had finally either broke or been lifted. That was the only explanation for the sudden surge that she felt as well as why it felt so powerful.

"Aono;" Grimmjow whispered with slight concern.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou bent herself around one of Akua's hands that was aimed to go through her stomach. She found out the hard way that this vampire wasn't subjected to a time limit for using this ability of hers. She had several small cuts and only one that might be eligible to be called serious, although she hated the placement of the wound; right above her chest, but luckily it wasn't big enough to cut her top off. She had found out that the ability her opponent was using was limited to her hands. Of course she knew better than to assume that was the extent of this unusual ability, this was probably the offensive capability.

She had released her Shikai shortly after she started fighting the vampire on a more serious level. There were several incidents where she considered herself very glad to have spent so much time training against Yoruichi after the Winter War since she could've been killed if she hadn't. Right now the vampire had five stings on her, but none of them were even close enough to be touching; it gave her more targets to aim for though.

"Braids!" she heard the tiny fuku-taichou call out to her "Biggest Boobies said that you can release that limiter thingy! I'm gonna to tell Kitty so he can start havin' fun too" before she vanished with a swish.

Soifon simply nodded to the pink haired girl; Akua's eyes just went wide. She was already hard pressed fighting against this shinigami taichou, and said shinigami had a limiter on. There was no way that was possible; she was a descendant of Alucard, the original and most powerful vampire, and she couldn't go toe-to-toe with a shinigami taichou.

Before Soifon could give the command to release the limiter; the two combatants were hit with a surprising amount of reiatsu. The taichou looked to Jagerjaquez thinking he released his own limiter, but then recognized it; it was Tsukune's. Or at least she thought it was; it was hard to tell with how much different it felt. While it still had that warm feeling to it, the underlying power was much more than it was when she last trained him. Akua's eyes went even wider than before; the power she felt beneath the warm feeling of the youki she was just hit with was all too familiar to her.

"It's not possible;" she stuttered "she was consumed by Alucard and sealed half her soul away to hide Moka-chan's Shinso blood. She can't still be alive after that…"

The vampire looked in the direction the youki came from.

"Limiter;" she heard the taichou say "Kai!"

The vampire was suddenly hit with an explosive wave of youki that was trying to force her to the ground, but she was strong enough to resist it.

"Now," Soifon said as she discarded her taichou haori and took her battle stance again "the real fight begins."

-Kokoa-

"What the hell was that?" the red haired vampire asked as she was hit with two overpowering waves of youki.

She first looked towards her Onee-sama, but saw that she wasn't the reason for one of the waves of youki she felt. That didn't make since to her though; her Onee-sama was extremely powerful and could easily let loose youki like she was feeling, but it wasn't her. One of them belonged to the second year gym sensei, which was weird considering she never felt anywhere near this much youki coming from the woman. The second was coming from someone that wasn't anywhere near her.

"That was terrifying;" she heard Routier say.

The deputy leader had only felt youki like that a few times before, and the shinigami taichou was just added to that list. To think that that much power had been hidden perfectly; she was glad she didn't pick the petite woman to be her opponent. Her eyes wondered to her opponent, and saw she wasn't paying attention. She quickly bolted over to her, ready to stab her with both her tanto, but she was blindsided by a pink blur.

"Leave Strawberry-chan alone;" Yachiru said in an angry tone as the deputy leader was sent soaring into a wall "I'm gonna go tell Kitty he can stop holdin' back;" with a smile to Kokoa before she vanished.

"What the hell…?" was all Kokoa could ask.

Deciding to wait until later to question what was going on, she went to see if the ones fighting her full blooded sister needed any help.

-Grimmjow-

"Kitty!" he heard beside him "Biggest Boobies said that limiter thingy can be released."

"Final-fuckin'-ly" the panther swore as he built up his reiatsu on the seal, located next to his 6 tattoo, like he was told to "Limiter; KAI!"

A grin grew on his face as he felt all his reiatsu flow through his body; his few cuts stopped bleeding and he could feel Pantera pulsing as a result of him releasing that limiter. He could feel that his zanpakuto was happy to finally be going all out instead of having to hold back.

"Grind;" as he put his free hand on his zanpakuto "Pantera!"

The debris around him got thrown unceremoniously away from him; in a matter of seconds, his body was changed into its more animalistic form that was his Resurreccion. His eyes looked up to his opponent and saw her hand twitch as she starred at him; he knew she was finally going to take him seriously. It was obvious that she could feel all his reiatsu now, and he wasn't going to hold anything back; not that he ever did. Now things were going to get interesting.

Harribel drew her zanpakuto and had it ready to block just as it was needed; Grimmjow had used sonido to get behind her and was using his claws to try to slash at her back. To her surprise, she was slowly being pushed backwards, but the surprise didn't show on her face; something told her that Grimmjow could tell though since he started to push even harder.

"Havin' trouble?" Grimmjow laughed as he pushed her away from him.

"Hardly;" she replied in her usual collected tone.

The female Arrancar blocked Grimmjow's next attack and countered by landing a powerful kick to his gut. She knew that if she could keep him a slight distance she wouldn't have too much trouble; if he got in close though, he would be able to tear her wound open and possibly get lucky enough to defeat her. That wasn't something she could let happen; she had given Fujisaki her word that her wound wouldn't hinder her in combat, if it turned out to be the reason for her defeat and/or capture then she would kill herself to ensure the shinigami didn't learn anything.

She charged up a cero in her blade and launched it at the former Espada. There was no way she was going to hold back against a traitor like him; the same Arrancar that would kill a shinigami without any hesitation only two months ago was now in an alliance with them. It was a mystery to her why he aligned himself with the shinigami scum that he was so eager to kill; regardless of the reason, she needed to kill him. Grimmjow was a key piece for the shinigami, rather they knew it or not, because he knew about Fujisaki and Fairy Tale. She was going to kill him and take his mangled body back to Fujisaki to prove that the shinigami's only hope of being able to counter their moves was dead.

The cero collided with its target and exploded; she knew that she didn't give the panther enough time to react to the attack and watched as his body fell to the ground. He wasn't dead, not yet, that much she could tell because his Resurreccion hadn't receded back into its zanpakuto state, but with how much power she had put in that cero he was most likely very close to defeat. The panther picked himself up out of the crater that was made from him hitting the ground, she could see blood practically gushing from a few spots; it was going to be very soon now.

"Damn it;" Grimmjow swore.

He was expecting to be able to at least cut his former ally, but he was still getting thrashed; even with his Resurreccion. Few of he threw at her hit; even with it hitting though, it didn't do anything but bounce off her Hierro or get blocked by her zanpakuto. This wasn't going to stop him though; no, he was going to push himself harder now. With a burst of sonido, he moved himself above her and came down on her spinning like a tornado just like he did when he fought Kurosaki in his Resurreccion.

Harribel blocked Grimmjow's hand and was about to retaliate with a slice to his stomach, but didn't realize that his foot was now coming directly for her face. Her eyes widened as the paw like foot smashed into and sent her crashing to the ground; she berated herself the entire way down. It was a simple attack that she should've been able to block without a problem, but she completely forgot about the follow up attack. Her zanpakuto stuck into the ground near her. As she picked herself up off the ground she could feel blood trickling down her stomach; that attack had ripped the wound back open. She couldn't let this hinder her effectiveness though; she collected her zanpakuto and sonido over to her opponent.

Grimmjow used his bladed forearms to block Harribel's zanpakuto, but was quickly forced backwards as she increased the pressure. A grin grew on his face as he noticed she was finally taking him seriously; perhaps it was because of the blood that was seeping through her bandaged stomach. He was surprised he didn't notice the bandages before; if he had he would've been aiming for them instead of attacking the rest of her body. The bandages were obviously concealing a still healing wound, but who would be strong enough to make a wound on the Teresa? Then it hit him.

"I guess Aizen-teme thought ya outlived yer usefulness;" Grimmjow taunted with a grunt as he slammed into a wall.

The female Arrancar's eyes narrowed at him; not because of his attempt at a taunt, but how he addressed Aizen. The former shinigami taichou had increased their powers and they owed him their lives; yet the panther Arrancar always spat on their lord's name. She charged up another cero in her blade and launched it into Grimmjow; the resulting blast sent him through the next five walls. That ended her fight with the former Sexta Espada.

-Nekonome-

The Neko was currently sitting in a staff meeting, which was being led by an annoyed sensei because of the ruckus that was going on outside; they weren't aware of the full scale battle going on, but Shizuka had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The last time she had this feeling was when Tsukune was about to be executed by the Safety Committee. Hopefully it was nothing though.

Unfortunately for her, her hope was for nothing as Grimmjow came crashing through the wall and destroying the table he landed on. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the 'Panther Demon' in his 'true form' laying unconscious on what was left of the table with a hole punched through his stomach. Then they took a more confused look as his 'true form' regressed and a sword appeared in his hand. Shizuka knew what was happening though, Grimmjow had explained it to her; what she had seen first was his Resurreccion form and it had receded back to a zanpakuto. She also knew what it meant; he was close to death.

"We need to get him a doctor" she cried out as she saw his eyes flutter in an attempt to regain consciousness.

-Matsumoto-

The busty fuku-taichou held the blonde vampire in the ash prison, but something told her that this wasn't going to be enough; she was going to need to think of another plan. While she knew a lot about kido, she wasn't exactly good at it; sure she could easily identify a spell and knew the ones that were taught at the academy, but they could only do so much. From how things were looking all around her, she knew she should've requested the limiter release for herself as well.

"Since we have time now;" Moka said in a slightly annoyed voice "just what the hell are you and where's Tsukune?"

"No;" she replied "we don't have time. She's building up reiatsu for something."

"She's probably about to release one of her limiters;" Kokoa warned as she joined the group.

The small vampire's eyes wondered over to the yuki-ona and succubus that had held off her full blood sister. For them to have teamwork on a level that could keep her sister back showed not only surprising strength, but skills that could give them the title of strongest of their species in their generation. Their accomplishment wasn't without its repercussions though; both were breathing heavily and struggling to remain standing. Yukari was currently helping the two back away from the odd sphere that had trapped her sister.

Before anyone could say anything else the sphere exploded sending the ash sized blades that made up Rangiku's Shikai everywhere. Mizore had put up a wall of ice to protect herself, Kurumu, and Yukari. Moka had shielded her younger sister, taking several microscopic cuts to her back that stained her jacket with blood. Rangiku, who was the closest to the sphere out of all of them, didn't have time to react; she shielded her face to keep from having her eyes cut up by her own Shikai, but she didn't feel any pain at all. When she looked, she saw a familiar face.

"Figured you weren't a succubus;" he said.

"Ginnei;" with worried eyes.

She could see his blood slowly spreading across his jacket. He had taken the full force of the explosion for her, and he wasn't showing the pain of the countless cuts that were littered across his back, neck, arms, and legs. Had she known he was going to do this, she would've at least attempted to move out of the way.

"You shouldn't have stepped in the way;" she said.

Before Gin could say anything back to her, she grabbed hold of him and shunpo away; just in time to save Gin from getting impaled by the blonde vampire. She had underestimated the vampire and it had about cost her; first the blonde woman had forced her Neko Rinbu, and had nearly killed her friend. She didn't have time to react to the vampire's next attack, which was directed to at Kurumu's gut, and then back handed Yukari; causing the succubus to spit up blood and sending the small witch crashing to the ground and passing out. Kahlua turned around and impaled Moka through the stomach before she could react to her presence. She didn't want to have to kill her sister, but she was given an order and had to follow it; the only thing she could do was hope that Moka would be tended to immediately and that she could forgive her. Now Rangiku was done trying to keep her identity secret; this couldn't go on any longer, not with how many close calls there have been already.

"Hado Number Thirty One: Shakkaho" the fuku-taichou called out and barely missed her target.

She quickly used Haineko to push the vampire further back away from the group, giving Hanataro the room he needed to start healing Moka. The seventh seat of the Fourth Division looked at the wound and knew it was going to take him a while to heal the silver haired girl; if he could at all. After healing Ruby, which included a full repair of her kidney, he didn't have enough reiatsu to completely heal the vampiress; at least, not in his gigai. He pulled out his Mod-Soul and swallowed the pill.

"Please keep my gigai safe;" he said to it before the artificial soul nodded and started running to a safe location.

Just as he was about to begin healing the vampiress, she started going into shock. This was easy for him to treat, but with the fight that was going on he had to heal her faster than kido would. He drew his zanpakuto and readied it over the hole in the vampire's stomach with the tip pointed down towards it.

"What the hell do you think yer doin'?" Kokoa shouted at him.

"Hisagomaru makes it so any wound he touches heals so that it never happened;" Hanataro stated as he dodged a swing from Kokoa "if I don't heal her soon she'll die from blood loss."

Kokoa stopped her next swing and saw how much blood had already left her Onee-sama's body. She stepped aside and let the boy now dressed in black do whatever it was he was about to do. He had given her no reason not to trust him in the few days he's been here; he even helped her get back to looking her age when he easily could've said no and let her suffer through it.

"I'm sorry if this hurts Akashiya-san;" as he put the tip of his zanpakuto in her wound and watched as the wound began healing.

Moka grit her teeth as she felt an intense burning in her stomach, but slowly she felt her organs and skin grow back just as the boy had told her sister. Kokoa watched the scene while fighting the urge to kill the one that had the tip of his sword in her Onee-sama; a red smoke came from the wound that Hanataro was healing and entered the sword. Slowly, the side began to have a red bar grow down it.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou was no longer having too much trouble with the vampire that she was fighting. The erry feeling that the vampire's reiatsu had was now being drowned out by her own. Now she was pushing her opponent to her limits, even finding out that she could phase out of exist for a brief moment to dodge being stung again. It was irritating for her, especially when those stings would've ended the fight by Suzumebachi's special ability.

Akua was finding it more and more difficult to find an opening on the taichou she was fighting. She would no more find the opening and it was closed off from the attack she was about to use. To add to that, the shinigami had found that swatting at her wrists was a very good way to keep from getting cut by Jigen-Tou. It was unusual though, normally the ability bent the existing dimension around her entire hand and wrist; something was different about the shinigami she was fighting. Naturally she expected her to be stronger because of the fact that she's a taichou, but it was almost like she knew Jigen-Tou herself.

"How are you able to block my Jigen-Tou?" Akua asked with a noticeably annoyed tone.

"Because I can do something like it;" Soifon replied bluntly as she held her right arm out to her side "Yoruichi-sama calls it Shunko."

Before Akua could respond, she saw a white youki build up and practically explode from the shinigami's arm. The youki began to carve away the cement that made up the roof they were using as a combat ring. The air around them rushed towards the shinigami and spun around her arm. This was unlike anything she had ever seen before; the raw power that could be seen from this 'Shunko' ability was making her eyes shake with disbelief.

"This is the end, vampire;" Soifon said as she took off sprinting towards her opponent.

Akua responded by putting as much power as she could behind her Jigen-Tou and attacking back. Her hand was blocked by the shinigami's but she attacked with her other, only to have it blocked as well. Just when she thought they were finally in a dead lock, she was kicked into the air by a back-flip. The pain that she felt in her jaw made her think that it was fractured, possibly even broken; she had never felt pain like this before, now she knew this 'Shunko' was not to be underestimated ever again. She looked down to her opponent just in time to see her push off the rooftop and come speeding towards her, with her released zanpakuto aimed at one of the marks on her torso.

Before the taichou could get close enough to deliver the killing blow, a yellow cero was seen in her peripherals and she broke out of Shunko so she could shunpo away from the incoming attack. However, she shunpo right where the Arrancar wanted her too and was greeted by a powerful fist to her back that sent her crashing to the ground. The pain was too much to move, so she was forced to just lie in the small crater she made and thank Kami that her spine wasn't broken.

-Harribel-

The female Espada looked in the crater, unsure if the female taichou was going to be able to get back up. If she did, a cero would ensure she would never get back up. After a few seconds, she concluded that the taichou wasn't going to be getting back up and turned her attention to the other vampire she had brought with her. The girl didn't look to be having too much trouble, but she was still holding back; that much she could tell because both earrings were still in place.

She sonido over to the group and immediately knocked out the red haired vampire that was standing behind the Fourth Division shinigami. Had the young vampire been paying attention to the fight, like a real warrior would've been, she would've have left herself so open. It sickened her that it was this easy; sure she knew she would win because she was a Vasto Lorde, but she expected at least a little resistance from the supposed strongest of Yokai.

Her next attack was directed at the witch that used crows to surround her, which proved pointless as she lazily sliced through all of them and put the witch through a wall; uncaring if she killed the woman or not. To be honest with herself, she was surprised that the witch could move after having her kidney nearly destroyed; even with the shinigami from the Fourth's treatment, the pain should've lingered in her body and made it extremely difficult to move. The living are fragile like that.

Finally she turned her attention to the fuku-taichou that her Fraccion had fought against. This woman was someone she knew better than to even contemplate underestimating; not when she stood her ground against her Fraccion for a short time. The Arrancar sonido away from the ash cloud that rushed towards her; she recognized the Shikai from before and knew how to fight against it. The secret was with the hilt that the fuku-taichou was using to direct the ash; unlike Kuchiki Byakuya's Shikai, the ash had to be directed with the hilt. Knock the hilt out of her hand and the zanpakuto was rendered useless. With another burst of sonido she was right in front of the fuku-taichou; her hand already grasping the shinigami's wrist. Without a second passing, she twisted the woman's wrist and broke it; forcing her to drop the hilt.

"Grab the yuki-ona so we can leave this trash behind" Harribel finally said as she knocked the fuku-taichou out with a powerful punch to her ribs that sent her flying into a tree.

"Akeiro Hisagomaru" she heard from behind her.

She turned around and saw what appeared to be a cero heading towards her. She lazily swatted the attack away and saw the medic standing where it came from. The fear she could see in his eyes showed he was no longer going to be a problem, not that he was to begin with; the medic must have been hoping that the attack he used would be enough to do some sort of damage, he was greatly mistaken. That attack wasn't even an insect bite to her; it was barely enough to be called a bed sheet being thrown at her.

Her eyes moved to the silver haired vampire that was now charging towards her; she questioned what the girl was thinking in trying a frontal assault like she was. The silver haired girl threw a kick at her face when she got within striking distance. The vampire let out a scream of pain as her leg was broken against the Arrancar's Hierro. Harribel grabbed the vampire by her throat.

"Thrash such as you should learn not to attack those that are stronger than yourself;" she said in a venomous tone "you may be an S-rank vampire, but you have sent too long believing you are the strongest one out there. Now, you will die;" as she positioned her zanpakuto to pierce the vampire's heart.

If it weren't for the pain that was coming from her leg, Moka's eyes would've shown fear, anger, and just how annoyed that someone had just called her weak.

"Stop;" she heard from the yuki-ona they were told to retrieve "I'll go with you. Just don't kill my friends" in a begging tone.

Harribel simply dropped the vampire in her hands, walked over to the unconscious deputy leader, and picked her. She handed the unconscious girl to the blonde vampire and turned to look at the yuki-ona, only to have nails pressed against her chest. The succubus that she had thought had been knocked out was standing between her and her target.

"You…" she panted as blood continued to trickle from her mouth "aren't… taking… her… anywhere…"

Harribel's eyes narrowed at the girl. She gave her credit for trying even though she was so badly injured, but again she was annoyed. On the plus side though, she knew a succubus could come in handy for Fujisaki when he went to create a new Hogyoku.

"Bring the succubus as well;" she ordered as she turned back around and opened a Garganta.

Before either Mizore or Kurumu could make any protest; they were grabbed by Akua and taken into the black rift that had been ripped open.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia

"Today I shall be covering vampires" Mayuri said as the screen behind him came to life with a slight hum of electricity "this species of Yokai has a written history that spans much further back than that of humans."

The screen showed ancient looking scrolls of paper that had been carefully unrolled and had writing on them that looked to be a mix of different kanji and a few Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"Unlike the idiotic myths and legends that humans came up with during the time of the Black Death, vampires can go out into direct sunlight without bursting into flames;" the screen flicked over to a picture of Moka, Kokoa, Akua, and Kahlua standing in the sunlight just before their fight started "the only truth that is found in human legends about vampires is the fact that they drink blood to sustain their strength. Which doesn't sound too different than a Bount now that I think about it; shame I couldn't capture one so I could do experiments to see just how alike they are" with a sigh.

The screen changed over to where Moka had landed a full power kick to Kahlua's stomach.

"Vampires also can develop an ability they call 'Charm'" he said in a bored tone "this ability is done by combining both their immense strength and usual healing capabilities to accelerate their healing while increasing their strength by an unknown amount. One drawback of using this ability though, is that it makes the vampire just as vulnerable as they are powerful; like a double edged sword. However, I found evidence that suggests that the injuries catch up to the vampire after a time; which leads me to suspect that this ability is a last resort for those that can use it."

"Mayuri-sama;" Nemu said as she entered the room.

"What?" in an angered tone.

"I located the doll that the vampire requested in exchange for the information;" as she showed the receipt for the toy "I already took it to where she requested it be dropped off."

The painted taichou's jaw hit the floor when he saw how much the play thing cost. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that a doll could cost so much.

-Kahlua-

The blonde vampire let out a squeal of delight when she read the letter her father had sent her. The woman she had spoken to about her Charm ability had delivered the limited edition porcelain doll to the Shuzen Mansion and was in her room waiting for her. Of course, her squeal caused everyone around her to give her a dirty look; even the yuki-ona and succubus they had kidnapped were glaring at her.

"Sorry;" she whispered as she put the letter back in the envelope.


	25. Chapter 25

"Welcome home, Shirayuki Mizore;" Fujisaki said as the yuki-ona was carried into the chamber by Akua "oh, and who might the other one be?" as he looked at the Arrancar.

He looked towards the blue haired girl that was also in Akua's arms. He wasn't expecting a second person to be brought back, but she did look familiar to him; maybe he saw her in some of the images that his Shikigami had shown him. He could already make a very safe guess at what species she was by her looks though.

"A succubus;" she said bluntly "her abilities might prove useful in the future."

"It's not like you to bring gifts like this;" he pointed out.

The only time the female Espada ever brought him gifts was when she felt she failed at something; which made sense for her. Harribel was loyal and would find a way to atone for a failure by bringing something just as good as success back with her. For her to bring back a succubus, after he had just revealed to her that the Hogyoku needed souls to help be created, meant that she had to have felt she failed horribly at something.

"I failed to confirm if I killed Jagerjaquez;" the female Arrancar said "I was planning on bring his corpse to you as proof that a preemptive strike from the shinigami would not be possible."

"Shinigami?" Kurumu and Mizore asked each other while looking at the other with a confused expression.

Shinigami were only creatures of legend, even for Yokai; the thought that a spirit being could hold on to this world wasn't too farfetched, but a shinigami was way out there. Then again, after everything they had seen in the past week or two it didn't sound as crazy as they first thought. Things were still confusing for them though; what do shinigami have to do with this guy in front of them?

"It's alright Harribel;" he said "Akua, take those two to the infirmary wing. They aren't any good if they aren't in good condition."

Akua nodded and carried the two towards the medical station. Kahlua stood in thought about her fight with the large chested woman that had the weird katana; surely she had to be a shinigami. After all, the living didn't have any weapons that could do what the katana did. Then she remembered what the shinigami was wearing on her sash.

"Oh-no;" she said in a worried tone that got everyone's attention "the shinigami know about my Charm ability."

"Care to elaborate?" Fujisaki asked.

"Last week I was approached by a woman with black hair that was braided and she was wearing a black outfit that looked like a dress," Kahlua said "she also had one of those badge looking things on her shoulder. She asked if I was a vampire, when I told her I was she started asking about what we can do. I told her that it depended on what we took the time to learn, but most of us had fast healing capabilities and are stronger than most other Yokai. Then she asked if I had any unique abilities, so I told her about Charm."

Harribel was about ready to kill the vampire for being so careless, but Fujisaki spoke up.

"If it was last week," the man said "then the shinigami weren't your enemy at the time; so do not worry about it. Just try to be more careful in the future."

"Hai;" with a bow before leaving.

"Was he there?" he asked Harribel.

"No; at least not in the fight. I felt an unusual reiatsu towards the end; at first I thought it was as powerful as Kurosaki's, but I realized that it had been contained within some sort of barrier. At best, it was the level of a weak taichou or high level fuku-taichou; I don't think he is a threat just yet."

"Very well;" as he noticed the blood on her wrappings "please go have yourself healed as well and then pick up where Midou left off in the search I had you doing."

"Hai."

-Mizore and Kurumu-

Mizore had convinced Akua to let her assist the medic in treating the succubus; not an easy task when the vampire was ordered to keep a hold of her the entire time. So she had to settle for being locked in the room and extra guards placed in the room as well. She honestly didn't care though; she had to help her friend. Luckily the injuries weren't as bad as she first thought and the basic medical skills she knew from her village were enough to help speed the process up.

The medical skills that the village has came from a mysterious place that only the priestess knows about; everyone else is left to guess. From what she was told, not every yuki-ona could use these healing abilities; only the priestess and a very select few could. The priestess had said something about requiring a certain type of youki; which wasn't something that was passed down by blood, you were either born with it or you weren't. Speaking of the priestess, Mizore didn't even see her usual assistant when they entered the castle; just some weird looking shark Yokai.

The yuki-ona lifted her glowing green hand off her friend and helped her sit up. The Moka's blonde sister had done a number on her succubus friend with very few hits; it was frightening to think that a vampire that wasn't S-rank was that strong. What did that say about Moka's potential for strength? Could she be even stronger than her older sisters; or would she not be able to get that strong?

"Follow me;" Akua ordered as she opened the door "as I'm sure you've noticed by now," as she pointed to the exits, which had several yuki-ona guarding them "escape is impossible for you. Don't expect anyone to come for you either; all the potential rescuers have been defeated and are in no condition to even attempt to save you" she lied.

She wasn't sure where the brown haired boy had been, but she wanted to meet him. For him to have been able to break her favorite sister's seal meant he had to be incredibly powerful; maybe even stronger than herself. A blush began to grow on her face as she thought about just how strong the boy must be, but she quickly got it under control when she remembered she was taking the yuki-ona and succubus to their quarters. Besides, there was the off chance that the boy was going to end up coming here to save the two; that's when she was going to meet, and fight him. Of course she wasn't going to kill him, but that would be his 'thank you' from her for breaking her sister's seal.

"Here is your room;" she said as a guard opened the door.

Mizore and Kurumu walked in, the door was practically slammed behind them, and Mizore immediately began looking through the bookshelves that lined the walls. Kurumu was still taking in the sight of the room; a large comfortable bed that could easily fit four or five people that had a frame made from an elegant white oak wood and had snowflakes carved into the posts and on large one on the head board. The rest of the furnishings were made of the same white oak material and were set up in the room to maximize floor space.

"What are you doing?" Kurumu asked.

"Looking for something;" as she pulled a book out and started a pile "it's not every day that someone is allowed to read from the priestess' library."

-Soifon-

The petite taichou was the first person that was treated after Hanataro finished assisting the local doctors in stabilizing Grimmjow so he could have the operation he needed. She considered herself lucky she didn't even have a fracture after taking that punch from the Arrancar, and most of her wounds were healed without scaring; it annoyed her that the one wound that did scar was the one on her chest. If that wasn't bad enough, a shit storm was about to come down now that they had revealed their true identities to some of the students at Yokai Academy; it didn't help that they didn't have enough memory modifiers to get everyone, not even a quarter of the people that witnessed the battles.

She had remembered the sudden burst of reiatsu that came from Tsukune. Did that mean that his assumed bankai training was now done; if it was, did he gain bankai? The questions continued to run through her mind as she walked towards the underground canyon where Tsukune had been sealed off in for the past two days. Two days, that was how long Yoruichi had told her it took Kurosaki to gain bankai; the results were, and she couldn't believe she was admitting this, incredible. To go from barely surviving a fight with a taichou to defeating that same taichou, who had used his ultimate attack, was an incredible feat.

She pushed the hidden door open and could see the damage that was done to the large canyon. Grooves were cut into the ground and were stained red, boulders were completely demolished from what looked to be a single attack on each, drops of blood lined the canyon floor as well as parts of the walls, but she didn't see any signs of Tsukune. All this damage and she could barely sense where Tsukune actually was; he must have nearly drained all his reiatsu during this battle. When she finally found him, she saw someone kneeling behind him with his zanpakuto about to cut him; she immediately shunpo over to the person and grabbed her wrist, only to see it was Tsukune's zanpakuto spirit… cutting his hair?

"Soifon-taichou;" Bloodriver said with a smile "it's nice to see you again. Did you defeat my stepdaughter and the Arrancar?"

"No;" she said as she let go of her wrist "the Teresa Espada stopped me from delivering the killing blow. And that vampire was your stepdaughter?"

"One of three;" in a sad tone.

"Did he achieve bankai?" the taichou asked quickly changing the subject.

Bloodriver remained silent; not a good sign. If Tsukune had failed to achieve bankai then he was lucky to still be alive; she had heard of shinigami that attempted to achieve bankai and were never seen again. The mere fact that he was still alive showed that he had taken the training seriously.

"He is far more proficient with Shikai and is more willing to use it in battle;" Bloodriver explained "but I do not believe he would have been able to fight against Akua or Kahlua for very long, which is why I forced him to stay in here when he first felt the Vasto Lorde's reiatsu. Had he gone to assist, he would have been so wounded Ghoul would have taken over and I am unsure of what might have happened after that."

Soifon knew that the zanpakuto spirit knew what would happen; it wasn't that hard to figure out. He'd start by killing Akashiya Moka and then everyone would try to stop him, which would only lead to him killing his opponents to either ensure his survival or just for kicks. Ghoul didn't seem too much different than Jagerjaquez from what she's seen so far, but he was still a lot like Tsukune. He wouldn't hold back like Tsukune will, but he was the same in respect to the fact that even Ghoul seemed to have a soft spot for the pink haired fuku-taichou. That made her wonder just how alike the two were all together.

Her eyes looked at Tsukune, who was still passed out in the pool of healing water with a few of his wounds finally finishing healing. She had mixed feeling about if Tsukune had been present during the battle that took place an hour ago. Had he been there, he wouldn't potentially be subject to a treason charge; however, he could've either been killed or, as Bloodriver believes, lost himself to Ghoul.

"Could you finish cutting his hair?" Bloodriver asked "the last bit is in the water and, as a vampire, I cannot touch water."

"Hai."

With that, Bloodriver dematerialized back into Tsukune's mindscape. When she got back, she saw Ghoul half asleep on his usual branch of the Monster Tree with a half contempt look on his face. That made her slightly worry that he found what he was looking for. Back in the real world, Soifon had drawn Suzumebachi and started to cut the last of the long parts of Tsukune's hair. As she pulled the hair out of the water, her eyes showed a confused look as she saw how long it was; it was longer than hers when it was unbraided. Something was very off; how could his hair have grown this much in only two days?

-Two hours later, Head Master's office-

Tsukune stood with his taichou, mentor, passenger, drinking buddy, and the medic he saw around the Fourth Division before. Rangiku had been rubbing her side from the pain of having almost all her ribs crack because of the hit she took. Grimmjow was bandaged up almost head to toe but was still moving on his own; despite the doctors' protests. Soifon had mentioned that she didn't take any injuries she couldn't deal with; which had him worried. Yachiru and Hanataro, as he introduced himself as when he gave Tsukune a file, were the only ones that looked like they didn't take any damage.

The Head Master was talking with an old man about something; saying that there would've been little they could've done against a Vasto Lorde level Arrancar. There was something about the old man that made Tsukune think that what he saw was something to deceive his opponents.

"You are Aono Tsukune correct?" he heard a boy ask.

"Hai;" he replied as he turned his attention to the boy.

"My name is Won Fanfan;" he said with a bow "I am the heir to the Won Family in China. Stories of your strength caught my family's attention, and I wish to offer you an invitation to join us."

"I can't;" he said "sorry."

Tsukune didn't want to sound rude, but he had to check on his friends and make sure they were alright. For some reason he wasn't being told about their conditions after the fight that had taken hold only three hours ago. He wanted to just rush off to the infirmary and make sure they were ok, but Soifon and Grimmjow told him no. He knew better than to even try to go there; Grimmjow might be in bad condition, but he was far from not being able to put him on the ground. Soifon is the taichou of the Second Division; enough said. Very soon the screen in the Head Master's office flickered to life with Yamamoto standing in his usual way.

"Report;" he said.

"Nice to see ya too;" Grimmjow snorted sarcastically.

"At twelve hundred hours;" Soifon began "a Garganta was opened into Yokai Academy and the Teresa Espada was discovered to be the cause of it. She had three living alongside her; two of which proved to be vampires and the third wasn't identified. Jagerjaquez started to engage one of the vampire's but I intervened believing that he would not have been able to survive against her as she was proficient in martial arts. At which point, he engaged the Teresa. Matsumoto-fuku-taichou engaged the other vampire, while one of the local inhabitants saved Seventh Seat Yamada from the unidentified enemy. We were defeated and two of the locals, Shirayuki Mizore and Kurono Kurumu, were kidnapped by the group."

"WHAT?" Tsukune shouted in complete disbelief "why didn't you tell me?" as he looked at Rangiku, Yachiru and Soifon.

Was this why Grimmjow and Soifon were keeping him from going to the infirmary? Because his friends were kidnapped and they knew he was going to react like this? That shouldn't matter; Mizore and Kurumu were his friends and he had a right to know what happened.

"Hold your tongue Aono;" Yamamoto warned.

The sou-taichou was already tempted to withdraw Aono from Yokai Academy and have him return to the Shinigami Academy. With everything that he has done so far without being a full shinigami, he either needed a rude reality check or to be thrown in the Maggot's Nest. He didn't care which, but it had to happen soon.

"But they need to be saved;" he protested.

"I know full well where you are going with this. As you are a student of the Shinigami Academy and a temporary member of the Gotei Thirteen;" the sou-taichou said as he cracked his eyes open and held a serious tone "I am ordering you to stay at Yokai Academy. You are in enough trouble as it is."

The only reason he wasn't charged with attacking Kurotsuchi-taichou was because the sou-taichou had watched all the events prior to the fight unfold. That didn't mean that he was going to excuse everything the boy did; unlike Kurosaki, Aono was, just as he stated, a student of the Shinigami Academy and a temporary member of the Second Division and had to follow ever order given to him.

"You want me to just forget about my friends?" as he balled up his fist "to let them have who-knows-what done to them and pretend I don't care?"

He reached in back pocket and pulled out the badge he was given. He already knew what the answer was going to be from the sou-taichou; if that was how it was going to be then he was going to do what he felt was right. No matter what, he was going to save them from whoever kidnapped them. As soon as he placed the badge on his chest and was completely out of his gigai, he set it on the Head Master's desk. Everyone just looked at him in shock; did that mean what they thought it meant?

"I'll return to the Rukongai after I bring Mizore and Kurumu back;" as he walked out to the exit.

Grimmjow was just as surprised as everyone else in the room even though he suspected that he would do this. He knew Aono probably better than most in the room; only the flat chested taichou and the Head Master knew more about him. During their spars, they would often talk a bit; most of it was about fighting, but the parts that weren't were about Aono's past or at least what he could remember of it. From what he could tell, Aono would die for his friends; which made him wonder if that was how he actually died.

"If you do this you will be labeled as a rogue shinigami and hunted down as such;" Yamamoto gave as his final warning.

"I understand;" as he left the office.

As he left the office, he could see the empty desk that Ruby usually sat in; she was most likely still in the infirmary because of her injuries. His friends got hurt because he wasn't there to help them fight; that fight also resulted in two of his friends getting kidnapped. He had to save them and bring them back to Yokai Academy.

"Soifon-taichou;" Yamamoto said "in half an hour you are to begin pursuit of Aono."

The old sou-taichou already had a couple volunteers to hunt down the boy if he hadn't showed back up, Kenpachi and Mayuri, but hunting down rogue shinigami was the Second Division's jurisdiction. Since Soifon was already in the world of the living and had a good idea of where Aono was going to be heading, she was the obvious choice for the new pursuit.

"Hai;" trying to act unfazed about what just happened.

In reality though, she hated having to hunt down Tsukune for doing what he felt was right. That was how Tsukune was; no matter what he would always do what he felt was right. That much she figured out when he apologized for seeing her changing the first night he went on patrol; she was still confused about why she was so embarrassed about it. It's not like she hasn't been naked in front of a guy before; hell, she was the only female in the Onmitsukido and had to change, shower, and sleep in the same quarters as everyone else. Needless to say, there were a few times where she was frightened; that's the main reason she always trained so hard back in those days, to keep from becoming a victim.

Perhaps that was why she was so attracted to Tsukune; as Yoruichi said, he sees her for her and not as a taichou, a superior, or like an object. Sure he always addressed her as 'Soifon-taichou' but that was because she had told him to do so. And if what Yoruichi told her was correct, then he most likely used 'chan' or no suffix at all since nothing pisses her off more than that; the only reason she put up with being called 'chan' by Kyoraku-taichou was because he was just that, a taichou. She turned to leave the room so she could begin preparing to pursue Tsukune.

"**Soifon-taichou;"** the Head Master said in a cryptic tone **"be careful; you never know what you may discover in your hunt. Hehehehehe."**

-Tsukune-

The now rogue shinigami decided against walking through the hallways, so he jumped out of the first window he could and sonido to the roof. He was going to rescue his friends without any support from the Gotei Thirteen; not that he could ask someone from there to rescue someone they didn't know. That's why he returned the badge he was given; by dropping out of the Shinigami Academy he didn't have to follow the sou-taichou's orders and stay at Yokai Academy. There was no turning back now; he had to return to the Rukongai districts as soon as he returned to the Soul Society.

"Aono-san;" he heard Fanfan say to him "to be willing to turn your back to the Seireitei like you did for the sake of your friends truly is a noble cause. Allow me to join you in this endeavor."

Tsukune turned around and saw Fanfan was wearing what he assumed to be a more combat worthy outfit; the sleeveless Chinese shirt and snug pants that hugged the ankles and waist were pretty good giveaways. He couldn't ask someone he had just met to help him with his fights; no, Mizore and Kurumu were his friends and Fanfan didn't know them at all.

"My transfer paperwork doesn't get finalized for another few days, if that is what you are worried about," Fanfan added "so until that time I can leave the campus as I please. I wish to get stronger;" as he bowed "please, allow me to join you."

Tsukune thought about his options; if Fanfan wasn't a student, then he couldn't be a part of the Safety Committee. It was the Safety Committee's job to protect the students on campus and… wait. Why didn't Soifon mention the Safety Committee when she reported to the sou-taichou? When he got back, he was going to talk to Kuyo about not trying to stop the abduction; the fox had stressed learning the student handbook so he did and preventing a student from being abducted inarguably fell in the Safety Committee's duties.

"This is something I need to do myself;" Tsukune replied "Mizore and Kurumu are my friends and it's because I wasn't there that they got kidnapped. Besides, if your family knows about shinigami and you get involved in their affairs it could put a strain on your relationship with the sou-taichou."

The sound of a Garganta being ripped open behind Tsukune caused Fanfan to practically jump out of his skin while Tsukune grabbed Bloodriver expecting something to be coming out. To his surprise, nothing was coming; he could only see the endless darkness that flowed with spirit particles. When he looked around, he saw Grimmjow standing by the door with a serious look on his face; something told him that his mentor knew, or at least had a very good idea, where his friends were taken.

"Focus on their reiatsu;" Grimmjow said "do that as yer goin' through the Garganta and you'll get to where ya wanna go. Since ya spent so much time with'em ya should be able to feel it;" he explained "when a Garganta is open, ya have one of two ways to get where yer goin'. Focus on the area ya wanna go, or focus on the reiatsu; since yer pretty good at sensin' reiatsu already it shouldn't be too hard. Just don't go towards the darkness, that'll take ya to Hueco Mundo."

Tsukune only nodded and stepped into the Garganta. When the Garganta slammed shut, he could only see the darkness that threatened to consume him; he opened his Pesquisa as much as he could. He knew what Kurumu and Mizore's reiatsu felt like, warm and chilled respectively, but it was taking him a while to find them. He spent what felt like several minutes searching for their reiatsu, but he found it and took off towards it. Now his personal mission had begun and he wasn't coming back until he had his friends with him.

Grimmjow looked at Fanfan and narrowed his eyes at the boy about to say 'This stays between us or else' but stopped when he heard the Head Master.

"**My, my;"** with a snicker **"I didn't know Tsukune-kun could open a Garganta on his own. He's quiet lucky to have abilities that are more hollow based than shinigami; it keeps me from having to pick sides,"** as he walked back down the hall to his office **"there is a matter I wish to speak with you about Jagerjaquez-san; please meet me in my office after you assure Nekonome-sensei you are alright."**

"Creepy bastard;" Grimmjow said as he tried to shove his hands in his pockets but stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his shoulders and ribs.

-Mizore-

The yuki-ona was now reading the third book she had pulled down from the many shelves. After everything she had seen over the past few weeks, the masked creatures attacking the school, Jagerjaquez-sensei having a hole in his stomach and a mask fragment on his cheek, and hearing her captors mention shinigami as if they truly exist; she decided to see what she wasn't seeing. It was cliché, but she couldn't think of any other way to put it.

"I don't get what we're supposed to be looking for;" Kurumu started to rant for the fourth time "shinigami don't exist."

"According to humans," she replied back dryly as she turned the page "neither do we. Here;" as she found a segment that mentioned shinigami "back when the village was first founded by Priestess Sode no Shirayuki," she read "supernatural creatures attacked daily. White masks hid their true faces, they had a hole in their torso and their youki felt empty; thus leading them to be called empty ones. Priestess Shirayuki, using her pure white katana, slew many each day to protect the village. As time moved forward more of the empty ones attacked, leading Priestess Shirayuki to speak with Jack Frost hoping to find a way to end the many loses that the village had suffered. Jack Frost replied; 'These supernatural beasts must be defeated by the supernatural; only the reapers will have means to prevent the loss of more snow people.' The Priestess then knew where to turn for help.

After finally making contact with a young shinigami by the name of Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, a message was passed to the shinigami home land. Not long after, Yamamoto returned with allies that were a part of a special unit of shinigami and erected a barrier around the village. At the center of the barrier a sapling began to grow. On that day, a blizzard began to rage just outside the barrier and the frost from that blizzard lasted for a thousand years forever giving the sapling the name 'The Thousand Year Frost Tree'."

"So shinigami do exist?" Kurumu said in a surprised tone.

Mizore wasn't too surprise by her friend's, she was even a little shocked at the truth. As a snow fairy, she had been told stories of shinigami that seemed rather unbelievable at the time. Weapons that could change their forms and had abilities that would make most Yokai envious were just one of the stories.

"Not only that;" as she closed the book "but they're the reason my village still exists today."

"Finding comfort in reading about your village's history Shirayuki-chan?" they heard from the door.

Mizore didn't grace the one that had orchestrated her kidnapping with an answer; she only gave him a glare. This man was working with the 'empty ones', as her people had called them, that told her he was evil; she couldn't figure out how she fit into the picture, and what was harder than that was figuring out where her friend fit into it. The woman that had captured her said that Kurumu's abilities could come in handy, but didn't specify how or why she thought that. Everything had become one giant mystery ever since Moka was put in the infirmary for a week; reason being was because the S-rank vampire was being cryptic and secretive about how it happened.

"I suspected you wouldn't be very warm to me at first;" Fujisaki said as he shrugged his shoulders "but it will change since you are going to be my wife."

The red haired man reached out to hold Mizore's chin, but was stopped when he saw a set of nails coming down on his arm. The nails didn't break his skin, but they did cut up his overpriced jacket. He never expected the succubus to react like this, or have the rage in her eyes like she did.

"You won't touch her you creep;" Kurumu spat at him "if you so much as try to do it again, I'll cut your arms off."

-Tsukune-

The rogue shinigami continued to run towards his friends' reiatsu; when he felt it slowly getting stronger, he picked up his pace. He couldn't use sonido in the Garganta because he still couldn't sense reiatsu and use it at the same time, so running normally was his only option. He hated moving at such a slow pace, but it was better than over shooting his target and having to back track.

'_No matter what;'_ he said to himself as he saw something white in the distance _'I'm bringing them back to Yokai Academy.'_

'_I will support whatever decision you make'_ Bloodriver said to him knowing just how far he was willing to go.

He picked up his speed again and broke through the white he was seeing like it was a window; causing shattered pieces of what would've been his exit to crash around him and then vanish when they hit snow. He looked around and saw he was on a mountain of some sort; in the distance he could see a village that had a castle even further back.

"I guess I should start in the village;" as he rubbed his shoulders and started to walk towards it "maybe I can find some warm clothes too."

-Fujisaki-

He was about to back hand the succubus into a wall when he felt a strange reiatsu suddenly. As he turned his head in the direction he felt it from, he could tell that it was outside of the barrier that he had modified and doubted that whomever the reiatsu belonged to could get past it; but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"It would seem we have unwanted company;" he said as he turned back towards the door "I'll deal with you later."

-Tsukune-

The chilled brown haired boy finally came to the first house and was about to knock on the door; he was going to ask for something warmer to wear, but figured it wouldn't be much better than what he was already wearing. Mizore had told him that yuki-ona weren't affected by the cold like other species of Yokai were, but it was better than nothing.

"Hey; you!" he heard someone call out to him "it's past curfew and…" the person stopped.

There were two fish type Yokai, a shark and a blowfish, all bundled up in thick winter coats; the two started muttering to each other. The only words he heard were 'spy', 'shinigami', 'barrier', and 'hollow'. Their conversation seemed to be more of a debate as the two kept looking back at him and then continuing their talk.

"Please follow us, we will escort you to the Priestess' Palace" the shark said.

The rogue shinigami only nodded, and hesitantly followed the two fish. He opened up his Pesquisa again and could feel that Mizore and Kurumu were in the direction of the palace; if he ever passed their reiatsu, he would quickly change course and head towards them. The two escorting him were continuing their debate and kept looking over their shoulders at him; they seemed indecisive about him, just as he was about them. Sure they were taking him closer to his friends, but this is supposed to be a village filled with only yuki-ona; yet two aquatic Yokai were on a snow covered mountain.

He desperately hoped that he would pass his friends' reiatsu signatures so he could ditch the two Yokai in front of him. They were gradually looking back at him more and more and it was starting to worry him; did they catch on that he wasn't on their side? His fear slowly subsided as two different Yokai opened the doors to the palace for them and they walked into the main entrance area.

"I thought you two were supposed to be doing your rounds;" a hammerhead shark Yokai snapped at them.

"We were, but found this shinigami inside the barrier;" the blowfish said "he's got to be a spy for Fujisaki-sama if he's in it. After all, we did modify the barrier so shinigami can't enter."

"YOU IDIOTS!" the hammerhead shouted at them "FUJISAKI-SAMA DOESN'T HAVE ANY SHINIGAMI SPIES! KILL HIM NOW!"

In a split second, Tsukune was surrounded by all sorts of different Yokai. He sonido out of the way of an attack that was coming from a Cyclops, and easily kicked its knees out from under it causing it to crash down on top of four of his allies. With a serious of punches, he knocked two into a wall and completely out; he knew that a Yokai could take hits and they were his enemy, so he didn't hold back as much as he was while at the academy. Before he could continue his attacks, he heard a whining followed by what he could only describe as a several potato canons being shot one after another. When he looked at the source of the noise, he saw a woman standing in the door he had just entered with a large weapon in her hands. As he studied her further, he could see a resemblance to Mizore from her.

"Thank you for getting them to open the doors for me;" the woman said "my name is Shirayuki Tsurara."

"You're Mizore-chan's mom;" with a slight sigh of relief "I'm a friend of hers from Yokai Academy;" in a slight panic as the woman pointed the weird weapon at him.

"Why are you here shinigami? And how are you enrolled at Yokai Academy, shouldn't you be in the Soul Society?" as she tapped the trigger showing she was more than willing to pull it.

"Mizore-chan was kidnapped and I'm here to save her;" as he waved his arms in front of him in a defensive way "and it's a long story."

"Then give me the short version" as she tightened her grip on the weapon.

"I used to go there when I was alive."

Tsurara lowered her weapon and looked at the shinigami; she finally recognized who he was from the stories her daughter had told her. Now she was positive she could trust him.

"The ones that kidnapped my daughter also have the Priestess hidden somewhere;" Tsurara said as she looked down the hall "I couldn't find a way in before. We should split up;" as she saw that the hall split into two "you look for my daughter and I'll search for the Priestess."

Tsukune closed his eyes and opened his Pesquisa up again; he could feel several reiatsu signatures coming from the left, and further down he felt a very powerful colder reiatsu. The best he could guess was that reiatsu belonged to the Priestess that Mizore's mom had mentioned. To his right were significantly fewer reiatsu signatures, but far more powerful. The odd thing was, he didn't feel any fresh Arrancar reiatsu; what he could feel was older, but he wasn't complaining since it made things easier for him.

"I think the Priestess is that way;" he told Tsurara as he pointed to the left "there are several people guarding her though…"

"Don't worry about me," as she started walking down that hall "just save my daughter."

Tsukune hesitantly nodded before he took off down the hall on the right. He would've thought that the older yuki-ona would have insisted on helping him save Mizore; she probably felt that she wouldn't be strong enough to help and would only be in the way. The woman looked like she knew what she was doing, so he was going to have to trust her judgment. Now he had to focus on saving Mizore; if it was an Arrancar that took her, then she was bound to have some strong guards around her to keep her from escaping.

He finally arrived in a large chamber that looked decorated for a ceremony. He believed that this was probably the room that the Flower Offering Ceremony was going to take place in. Just as he was about to start heading up the stairs to the door that was on top of the balcony, he heard a door open on his left side. A woman with long curly blonde hair, tanned skin that resembled a beautiful olive skin tone, red eyes, wearing a white dress with matching gloves that went up to her upper arm and a tiara on her head. The red eyes told him that this woman was a vampire and most likely a very serious fighter; that thought went away when she tripped over her dress and did a face plant on the floor.

"Oh dear;" she said as she picked herself up off the floor and adjusted her tiara "tripping over my own dress on a first meeting… How embarrassing;" as she rubbed the red spot on her forehead "I mean" looking at the boy that was watching her "I meant to do that! I thought a funny entrance would help you relax so I can convince you to leave. I'm Shuzen Kahlua."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Mizore had noticed her friend had been starring at her since the red haired man left and it was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn't like she had something on her face since they hadn't been fed anything yet. It annoyed her even more because she couldn't focus on making an escape plan.

"Why are you starring at me?" she finally asked.

"You said your ancestor was a Priestess;" Kurumu said.

It took the succubus a while to make the connection, but she finally had an idea about why the yuki-ona was kidnapped. It was obvious!

"I don't see how that's relevant to the position that we're in;" obviously annoyed.

"It has everything to do with the position we're in!" Kurumu snapped "if your ancestor was a Priestess then that makes you a princess! Oh my god," starting to panic "I'm friends with a princess!"

"I'm not a princess;" with a blank face.

Yuki-ona hierarchy didn't work by bloodlines. Yes, being the descendant of the founding Priestess of the village meant she was more likely to be stronger than others, but it wasn't a guarantee. Just like with succubae, their strength is dependent on their fathers; for example, if her father would have been a werewolf she would have been faster. Since her father was a male of her species, her natural strength and abilities were increased by at least double; at least according to what the Priestess said to her.

"I've been treating you so horribly!" Kurumu continued her panic.

"She's obviously cracked;" Mizore whispered to herself with a sweat drop.


	26. Chapter 26

Gin scratched at the bandages that wrapped his torso; they might be the thing that was keeping him from bleeding, but the things itched like hell. The nurse had swatted his hand several times before finally giving up on the pointless campaign; the Werewolf was scratching at the bandages like he had fleas underneath them. He considered himself lucky though, his wounds were only cuts; Ruby had a few broken ribs and a fracture on her skull, Yukari was still unconscious and had a neck brace on, he wasn't sure what the extent of Kokoa's injuries were but he knew she was still unconscious, and Moka had her leg in a cast and was going to need at least four days to make a full recovery even with drinking from the blood bags that were brought to her.

"If you keep scratching at the bandages;" the head nurse said as she walked into the room and saw him scratching "I will get a newspaper, dog boy!"

Gin immediately put his hands under his legs to resist the urge; while he liked reading newspapers, he didn't like the thought of being hit by one. He began to think about the events that happened in the past few hours; the new sensei aren't what they say they are; neither is Rangiku, which made him think about Eiyu. If they aren't actually what they say they are, then could Eiyu not really be 'Eiyu'; it made sense to him, his scent was almost a perfect match to Tsukune's, the only difference was the underlying smell that he couldn't quiet describe, and he even looked like the boy. Just what was that blonde woman that beat the freshmen gym sensei; she had to be like the sensei she nearly killed, but the sensei had shown his true form and was easily beaten. Clearly that woman was stronger than him.

Something else was troubling him though; Jagerjaquez-sensei had a hole in his stomach, something that could kill just about any Yokai, yet he didn't bleed out and he could fight just fine even with a piece of his spine missing. There was also that white thing that was on his cheek; it looked almost like a mask fragment. There was something much bigger than what happened last year going on and he was going to figure it out.

"You have a visitor Morioka-san;" the nurse told him.

He looked over to the nurse and saw who he once thought was a succubus.

"Hey Ginnei;" Rangiku said with a slightly saddened look on her face as she rubbed her arm.

The look on her face told him that she felt guilty about him getting injured, but there was also something else bothering her. He might have only known her for a week, but he knew her well enough to know when something was bothering her. It was the way her eyes looked when she would look away from him; there was a look of regret and it was easy for him to see.

"You want to go for a walk?" Gin asked her.

Rangiku simply nodded before assuring the nurse that she would keep a good eye on him. They walked through the halls in silence; Gin didn't say anything because he wanted to ask her what she actually was, Rangiku was quiet because she was trying to figure out where to start at for their talk. Eventually they found their way to the roof of the infirmary and the time to start talking came.

"I'm sorry you got hurt;" Rangiku said "I underestimated my enemy and didn't request permission to release the limiter I have. If I would've done that, she wouldn't have been able to break out of the Neko Rinbu and you wouldn't have needed to save me."

"I've taken worse injuries;" Gin said with a shrug "last year I got burned from head to toe by the head of the Safety Committee. So what are you; really?"

The werewolf couldn't think of a way to ease into the question, so he decided to just go ahead and ask it.

"I'm a shinigami;" she said while looking away from him.

"So you slay those masked creatures and help the dead move on?" Gin asked with a raised eyebrow and getting a nod from the fuku-taichou "does that mean that Eiyu is actually Tsukune and that he's a shinigami too?"

"Eiyu is Tsukune," she said while looking at the ground "but he was in the Shinigami Academy before our deployment here."

"Was?"

"He dropped out so he could go rescue Mizore and Kurumu."

-Tsukune-

"Should you defeat me," Kahlua said to him "and continue to press forward, you will still have to face two others that are stronger than myself. Please, turn back."

Tsukune looked at Kahlua and wasn't sure what to think about what she had just said. Why was she trying to get him to just leave? She was a part of the group that kidnapped his friends and she was asking him to leave.

"I'm not leaving without my friends;" Tsukune said in a firm voice.

"If you turn back I won't have to kill you;" Kahlua said as tears started to form in her eyes "I don't want to fight you."

Tsukune didn't say anything back; he had trained with Bloodriver so he would be strong enough to protect his friends. Ironically though, it was because he was training that his friends were kidnapped and put in harm's way. He was going to answer for that; that's why he's here, to rescue them and apologize for not being there in the first place.

-Flashback: two days ago-

Tsukune woke up to see a canyon; he was a little dizzy after using so much reiatsu to fight an Arrancar, suppress Ghoul on his own, and then kill a Gillian. That's not including having to protect himself from Moka since she insisted on attacking him while trying to get him to admit his real identity. As he sat up, he could see that he wasn't in just any canyon; he was in the underground training area that Urahara and Yoruichi had made for the mission.

"It is good to see you are awake now, Tsukune-kun;" he heard a familiar voice say to him.

He looked towards the source and saw Bloodriver sitting on a boulder that was small enough to resemble a stool. While she wore her usual smile, he could see that there was something on her mind that she wanted to discuss with him. It probably had something to do with why they were in the underground training area instead of Paradise like he was at when he blacked out. He trusted her judgment in bringing him here, but he was curious as to why.

"I know you wish to know as to why we are in the training ground that was supplied by Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san;" she said before Tsukune nodded "I believe it is time that I train you on how to better wield me;" half lied "the presence of that Arrancar and the Gillian makes be believe that this is only the beginning of what will turn into a typhoon soon. For you to be ready, you must learn the attack I mentioned yesterday and learn how to use Shikai in a fighting style that will maximize its effectiveness."

Tsukune looked uneasy when his zanpakuto spirit said he had to learn a fighting style that would allow him to use his Shikai at a hundred percent. The reason he didn't use it very often was because it looked like it was meant to inflict a lot of pain; when he used it against the Arrancar, it was because he had to in order to keep others safe and he was being pushed to his limit with just his sealed zanpakuto.

"I am aware that you do not like the way Shikai looks;" she continued "but that is something you must get over. Should you ever come across an opponent that has the sole intent on simply killing you, you must fight back in the same way. One way that might help you get over your opinion about Shikai is to think of it as a weapon that can ware down your opponent rather than cause pain;" as she summoned their Shikai and showed him the full blade "each tooth on the blade may cause severe injuries, which will cause your opponent to keep from getting hit by it at all costs. If they are not accustomed in fighting like that, they will ware themselves out. If they do not care about taking injuries, think of it as a way to cause blood loss; this will wear them out as well. Each cut on their flesh will increase the rate that they lose blood; make enough cuts and they will pass out from that."

Her wielder still looked uneasy about using Shikai. She understood his worry, he was a pacifist by nature but she knew he would fight to protect others; he has proven this a number of times.

"What makes a weapon deadly is not the design," as she put her hand on his shoulder "but rather the hands that hold it. Any barbarian can use a bladed weapon to kill someone; it takes one with skill to wield a weapon like your Shikai and not kill your opponent. I am going to teach you what you will need to know so you will be a skilled fighter; that is how you prefer to fight after all. Skill rather than power; just remember that while either is formidable, a blend of the two is something to truly fear.

Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. Those are the words Tensa shared with me not long after I met him. It was with those words that we became friends and grew stronger together; to act as the sword and shield of those that needed them. You fight to protect, so learn the skills you must to be the shield that protects those you hold precious; get stronger so that you can be the sword that cuts down the threats to the innocent. And no matter what;" as she narrowed her eyes "never fail to do what you feel is right."

Those words seemed to spark something in her wielder as his eyes held a fire to them now. That wasn't the only thing that was noticed either; his reiatsu held a far more refined feel to it.

"How long will it take?" as he stood up.

"Only as long as you make it;" as she readied her manifested zanpakuto and Tsukune drew his.

"I fight to protect;" he said in a soft voice to himself "I will be the shield that protects my friends and the sword that fights for them."

-End flashback-

He wasn't sure how long he trained after that, but he was sure that it was for a few hours. His focus throughout the entire time that he was in the training area was on getting stronger to protect his friends. He had lost his chance to be the shield that would've protected Mizore and Kurumu; so now he had to be the sword that will fight anyone in his way to save them.

"I'm not leaving without Mizore-chan and Kurumu-chan;" he said finally breaking the silence "I will save them."

-Soifon-

The petite taichou was currently trying to figure out how to get to where Tsukune went. Odds were that he went to wherever the yuki-ona was from, but she didn't have the means to get there. She needed to catch up to Tsukune and help him how she can before having to drag him back to Yokai Academy and then possibly take him back to the Soul Society.

There was also the fact that they didn't know much about the enemies' forces outside of the group that attacked earlier. Just the Teresa being there made Tsukune's mission practically impossible. If they had any other Arrancar Tsukune might become so injured that Ghoul would take over; that thought made her stop. Ghoul was far darker than Tsukune, almost like Jagerjaquez, would that mean he'd possibly align himself with the Teresa so he could have a better chance at killing Akashiya? It seemed likely, but would Tsukune's zanpakuto allow Ghoul to take over him? She quickly banished those thoughts from her mind as she looked around and tried to find a way to get to Tsukune. A Senkaimon would allow her to travel to where Tsukune's at, but she still didn't know where that was.

"**Do you need a ride?"** a creepy voice said to her.

She looked at the source and saw the bus driver.

"**I know where Tsukune went;"** as he took a puff of his cigar **"and I can have you there in an hour."**

The taichou only nodded.

-Tsukune-

The vampire that had stopped him earlier had just erupted into a crying fit after he said he wasn't going to turn back. Before he could ask what was wrong, she was right in front of him with her hand aimed to impale him through the stomach. He figured she had to be a very good fighter, but he wasn't expecting her to be that fast. The only thing that allowed him to grab her wrist before she managed to impale him was his training with Soifon and Bloodriver; he made a mental note to thank his taichou later.

Kahlua's eyes widened when she saw the shinigami had stopped her; sure, this wasn't the first time someone was able to stop her attacks, but he did it on reflex rather than instinct. Now she had an idea about how skilled her opponent was, but it also meant that she just might have to cause more pain than was needed. She hated fighting and killing because of the physical and emotional pain it caused to her target and their family.

"We don't have to fight;" Tsukune said in a last attempt to get her to let him pass "I just want to save my friends."

"That is why we must fight;" Kahlua said between sobs "I was hired to ensure their capture and security. Now I _have_ to kill you!"

The blonde vampire went to kick him in the side; he quickly sonido out of the way. Her surprised showed on her teary face. It wasn't that he dodged the attack, the attack was easy to dodge, it was how he dodged it. She was told that shinigami moved differently than Arrancar, yet he had just moved like an Arrancar would. Her opponent wasn't a normal shinigami; that made her wonder just what he was.

"I don't want to fight," as he took a Hakuda stance "but I will to save my friends."

Kahlua made the first move again, this time by throwing a punch aimed at her opponent's chest. If she could push him to the point that showed him continuing would be pointless, then maybe he'd turn back. She already knew who she was fighting, Aono Tsukune; it wasn't that hard to figure out after what Moka had told her about the person. Since he had died a month and a half ago, it only made sense that he was a shinigami. She prayed that her sister would be able to forgive her for killing the now shinigami Tsukune if it came to that.

Tsukune used his forearm to push the fist to the side and aimed an open palm at the vampire's midsection. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain, but didn't want to hold back too much against his opponent. Vampires had a higher tolerance to pain, that much he knew after seeing Kokoa fight Hollows and Moka get right back up after he threw her into a tree, but he didn't want to hurt her too much. As the blow struck, he noticed that the blonde woman barely winced as she was pushed back a little bit. While this was good because it showed him that he was strong enough to at least cause pain to register with the vampire, it was bad because it wasn't enough to do anything noticeable; all said and done, he was holding back too much.

He didn't give her a chance to recover and retaliate; he closed the already small distance between them and was throwing an actual punch this time. To his dismay though, Kahlua had grabbed his fist and slammed her knee into his gut before punching him across the face; the copperish taste of blood began to fill his tongue as he caught himself. She was much stronger than Kokoa, but he knew that the two crosses she was using as earrings were limiting her; he needed to beat her before she could remove them.

Now it was Kahlua that wasn't giving him a chance to attack as she began her attacks at a speed that kept him on the defensive and on his toes. Even when he sonido so that he'd be behind her, she already knew what he was doing; he was glad that Bloodriver had told him that a vampire's eyes are naturally sharper than other species otherwise he'd be worried. As he threw another punch, his blonde opponent grabbed his wrist and threw him to the ground before shoving her hand into his side. A pained gasp escaped him as he felt his opponent remove her hand from his kidney.

"Now leave before I have no other choice but to kill you;" Kahlua said with sobs.

The rogue shinigami pushed himself up onto his hands and knees before drawing his zanpakuto and using it to help him stand up; the tip of the blade in the pool of blood that had formed because of his wound. He could feel his wound closing up as the blood was being pulled up the blade, creating a thick crimson colored coat over the steel. He could feel that one eye had changed colors and knew that if this went on too much longer Ghoul would take over. So with one swift movement, he made a cut across the blonde vampire's midsection; it wasn't deep enough to spill her guts, but it was more than enough to draw blood. Right now he couldn't use his new attack, not with having to heal the hole in his side. The only thing he could do was focus on defeating the blonde vampire without it.

'_**If ya'd quit holdin' back ya'd be done by now;'**_ he heard his Hollow snort at him.

Kahlua held the fresh wound on her stomach with her gloved hand; she didn't even see him swing his blade. Now she had no choice but to remove one of her limiters so she could kill her opponent with as little pain as possible. She quickly removed her right earring and let out a scream of pain as her arm turned into five bladed bat wings and her youki doubled. This was one down side to her limiters; the immense pain that was caused when she removed them. She swung her former arm at the shinigami, who barely dodged it but still had his uniform sliced vertically at the left shoulder.

Tsukune knew that now that his opponent had removed a limiter he had to use his Shikai to beat her. He still didn't like the idea of having to use it, but he had to so he could beat the blonde vampire and save his friends. His red reiatsu engulfed his blade and it morphed into its Shikai state as the red reiatsu also covered his left forearm and both shins, creating the armor pieces that went with his Shikai. Now he had to be more careful with his attacks so he didn't kill the woman he was fighting.

Kahlua attacked again with a horizontal swing, but was blocked by the red blade; the only upside for her was that she pushed the boy to the side and nearly caused him to lose his footing. She didn't let up; she attacked again with a vertical swipe. Tsukune blocked the sharp wings with Bloodriver struggled against the vampire's strength. During his training with Bloodriver, he was told that his Shikai increased his strength; this vampire was physically stronger than what his Shikai made him though.

"Ketsujin" he said as he launched a red wave from his Shikai as he pushed harder against the wings.

The wave caught Kahlua completely off guard and threw her backwards. She had never seen an attack like that or one powerful enough to throw her like what just happened. Her eyes wondered to her bladed wings and she saw blood dripping from them; the attack she was just hit with had to have been stronger than she first thought. When she observed the dripping blood further, she saw that she wasn't the source of the blood; yes the mysterious attack scratched her and stung a bit, but it didn't injure her enough for her to be bleeding, at least not as bad as she first thought.

Tsukune was thankful that he had finally learned the attack that Bloodriver had told him about. The Ketsujin has one major drawback, it requires blood and reiatsu to use. If he has an injury, like he currently did, and he used the attack he wouldn't be able to use the blood to heal himself since it was the blood that made up the base of the attack. While he could use his own blood as the base for the attack as well, using an opponent's blood would guarantee damage if the attack hit; Bloodriver had said that because it would be his opponent's own blood that was being used, if he was facing an Arrancar, their Hierro wouldn't protect against it as well if it was his blood. Reiatsu is what allowed him to mold the blood into a bladed wave; hence the name 'blood cutting edge'.

Kahlua readied her wings for another attack; it had to be fast because she wasn't sure if he would use that 'Ketsujin' attack again. As soon as she saw Tsukune center his blade, she charged him; he did the same. She could see red youki coming her opponent as they got closer to each other; the power she felt from it was refined, controlled, and unlike her own. The vampire swung her razor sharp wings at the shinigami with a horizontal swipe; Tsukune did the same. Blood splattered across the ground as the two met.

-Meanwhile: Tsurara-

The yuki-ona was firing her ice Gatling gun as she walked down the halls of the palace. The narrow passage she was walking through made a tunneling affect which was perfect for the weapon she was currently using. It forced all her enemies into a line in front of her and her customized weapon. She had always wanted to be a spy, which is why she started collecting guns to begin with, but knew that she had a duty to her people to help increase the population.

Her time collecting guns had made her very knowledgeable about the mechanics of the weapons; which eventually led her to customizing the guns she had so that they didn't use normal bullets. These weapons were perfect for someone like her, a yuki-ona; she had the guns now capable of firing ice and snow ball projectiles. Given these projectiles didn't pierce skin unless a very lucky shot was managed, but it was more than enough to break a bone if it hit the target.

She could see a chamber opening down the hall; so she quickened her pace. As soon as she stepped into the chamber she could see countless members of the organization that invaded her village. She knew that she'd need to be lighter on her feet to defeat all of them. She kept firing her customized Gatling gun as she walked around the edge of the chamber; the last thing she wanted to do was get surrounded and make things harder than they needed to be.

"You're dead bitch!" she heard behind her.

She spun around and caught the person that said it with the barrel of her gun. With one fluid motion after that, she discarded the heavy weapon and threw the Yokai into one of his allies. She quickly reached into her sleeves and pulled out twin Y&P USP pistols; out of pure reflex, she turned around and shot the small group behind her. Each of the invaders were hit in the center of their chest and cracked their sternum causing them to ball up on the ground from the pain.

Tsurara leaned forward, dodging the punch that was thrown at her, and spun around as she put the barrel of the handgun in the Yokai's chest and pulled the trigger. A sickening crack was heard over the commotion around her before she kicked the larger Yokai in the nuts and hit him across the face with one of her pistols. She saw more coming at her from the corner of her eye, turned to face them and jumped back as she unloaded a barrage of ice bullets at them.

The once large group of Yokai was now no more than six. This yuki-ona had single handedly gotten pass security at the front door and the reception area, and had taken them from thirty to six in less than a minute. What made it worse was the fact that she was light on her feet and surprisingly agile despite wearing the kimono she had on. A hedgehog Yokai that was unlucky enough to be the closest to the yuki-ona took four rounds to the chest, one to the gut and was on the ground in pain before he could even think to attack the woman. Not even a second later the remaining were on the ground as well because of the ice bullets that hit them.

The yuki-ona reached into her kimono and pulled out a lollipop; she had increased her body temperature thanks to all the jumping around she did. As she unwrapped the hard candy, the Yokai she had kicked in the nuts earlier had gotten back up and was about to attack her; only to be frozen in a block of ice as she lazily put the hard candy in her mouth. She walked down the hall that the Yokai that attacked her had come from; it didn't take a genius to know that that's where they're keeping the priestess.

When she got to the end of the hall, she saw a werewolf standing in front of a door; she could tell he was new because of the nervous look on his wolf-like face. She casually walked up to him and could see that he was shaking.

"B-back off;" he tried to warn.

"I dispatched the security that protected the main entrance to the palace;" Tsurara said in a calm tone "before taking care of the thirty three that were in the room I just came from. Step aside pup."

The werewolf did a small sidestep; Tsurara narrowed her eyes at him. That was all he needed to convince him to not only move away from the door, but to put himself against the wall to put as much distance between him and the yuki-ona as possible.

"It would be wise to leave this organization;" she said as she opened the door "otherwise it could be unhealthy for your lifespan."

"I only joined so I could feed my little sister;" as he scooted along the wall before practically running down the hall; leaving the black jacket he was wearing behind.

The yuki-ona entered the room and saw the Priestess bound to a wheelchair with patches covering her eyes and a ball gag in her mouth. She quickly removed the offensive items and began to undo the bindings. The straps were made of leather and had belt buckles to hold them tight; this made it hard for her to loosen them since they were already pretty tight against the Priestess' flesh.

"We must get to the Thousand Year Frost Tree;" the Priestess said in a slightly defeated tone "I must undo what Fairy Tale did to the barrier and hope that help comes soon."

Tsurara nodded as she helped the weak Priestess up out of the wheelchair and walked back to the chamber she just came from.

-Tsukune-

His body was pressed up against his opponent's, his armored forearm was up blocking the wings that would've killed him, and his Shikai was through his opponent's midsection. The blade had missed her spine by two centimeters, and that wasn't by luck; he aimed like that to keep from killing her. He felt her begin to drop, so he let go of his zanpakuto and caught her; then eased her to her knees. A glint nearby caught his eye and when he looked over to it he saw it was the limiter she had removed. So he reached over, grabbed it and looked back to his opponent. Her once pure white dress was now stained blood red, her makeup was running down her face because of the tears that were still flowing from her eyes, and she was looking down at the blade through her stomach. The shock on her face wasn't surprising to him; he was surprised that he was able to do that himself.

"I'm going to pull my zanpakuto out;" he said as he put her limiter back on her ear "but before I do that" as Kahlua's arm turned back into a normal arm "I need you to drink some of my blood."

Kahlua's eyes widened at what she had just heard. The shinigami she was trying to kill only a few seconds ago was asking her to drink his blood so he could pull his sword out of her. He ripped off the sleeve that was barely holding on and separated the white cloth from the black one before folding the two pieces. He had to know that she could easily drink all his blood and kill him like that, yet he was still offering her his blood; then again, she still had a saw like sword through her and he could kill her too if she tried to drain him of all his blood. Tsukune kneeled in front of Kahlua, exposed his neck, and placed the white folded cloth at the tip of his zanpakuto while he grabbed the hilt.

"Bite down and drink;" he said softly.

Kahlua looked at his neck and moved towards it; her heart was racing. This was the first time she was going to drink blood straight from someone's neck; what made it really weird was the fact that the one she was about to drink from was someone she had just tried to kill and he was still offering his blood. She pierced his skin as gently as she could manage and could taste the blood as Tsukune gave a small wince. His blood tasted so good; it was warm and tasted like a human's blood with a hint of vampiric blood as well as something sweet. She hoped she would be able to control herself after he pulled the sword out of her.

Tsukune let her drink for another few seconds so she could start the healing process. Then he returned his zanpakuto to its fully sealed state and pulled it out of her stomach as he put the fabric that used to be a part of his uniform against the opening in her back. If he had kept Bloodriver in her Shikai state when he pulled the blade out of his opponent, then he could've pulled out intestine or done far more damage to her. When the tip of his zanpakuto left her stomach, he could feel her clamp down on his neck a little harder because of the feeling.

"Can you stop now?" he asked as he set Bloodriver on the ground with the blade in the small pool of blood that had formed.

Kahlua let go of Tsukune's neck with slight disappointment, she was already addicted to the taste; now she understood how her sister felt when she went a few days without drinking his blood. The warm, sweet, and powerful blood gave her a tingling feeling all over and it made her slightly upset that she had to stop drinking. To sum it all up, she was just about to cloud nine and wanted to make the full trip. She felt herself being lowered to the floor as she finally snapped out of her haze. Tsukune had lowered her on to the floor and was placing the other folded fabric on the wound in her stomach. This person was impossible to figure out; she had tried to kill him, yet he was doing everything he could to make sure she didn't die because of her wounds.

"Keep pressure on your wound;" Tsukune said as he grabbed his zanpakuto and stood up "that should stop the bleeding" as he walked towards the stairs he was originally heading towards and sheathed his zanpakuto.

"Take the door I came through;" Kahlua said "if you go that way, you will have to face more enemies than you need to. That door" pointing to the one she came from "has a staircase that will take you to the chamber that leads to the room your friends are being held in."

"Thank you;" as he ran through the door he was advised to.

'_You are aware that she could have put you on the path that leads to a trap?'_ he heard his zanpakuto ask him.

'_Hai;'_ he said back _'but she could have killed me when I was treating her wound. I think I can trust her; Akasha-chan.'_

He ran up the stairs three at a time. With each step he took, he could feel Mizore's and Kurumu's reiatsu easier; he knew he was getting closer to his friends. When he finally reached the top, he pushed the door open and saw a woman that looked to be his age standing in the middle of a larger chamber than the one he just came from. She was wearing a black Chinese style dress, knee high combat boots, and had red eyes, wiry black hair that was in two pigtails on the top of her head.

"Greets, shinigami-san;" she said to him "I am Shuzen Akua, eldest sister of Moka-chan and Kokoa-chan, and I shall be your opponent now" as she took a battle stance.

"Aono Tsukune;" as he drew his zanpakuto.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Mizore had her ear to the door so she could listen to the conversation that the guards were having. So far they've been panicking because of the supposed group of people that had broken into the palace. Then another person joined the conversation and said that it was only a single person that had broke into the palace and that person was here to save her and her friend. That was good news for her; now it was only a matter of time before they were saved. There was one piece of information that caught her attention though; the lone invader was a shinigami.

Kurumu had been a bit of a nervous wreck after she tried to cut the one that organized their kidnapping. She had been sitting in a chair with her knees to her chest worrying about what was going to happen when the man came back. Mizore still held the opinion that the succubus couldn't handle the stress of being kidnapped; not that many could.

"Hey, Mizore;" Kurumu said in a soft tone.

"What is it?" as she stepped away from the door because the guards had stopped talking.

"Do you think that you'll be saved by a knight in shining armor?"

Mizore deadpanned to the floor. The succubus was still stuck on the notion that she was a princess; that was crazy, but it was probably her way of coping with the situation. She had tried to explain yuki-ona hierarchy, but it seemed as if that discussion had gone in one ear and out the other.

"I'm not a princess;" she said as she picked herself up off the floor "and someone has invaded the palace and is fighting their way though these guys. _We_ will be saved; so you need to keep it together so we can escape from this room and meet up with them."

"But you're a princess;" Kurumu protested "you shouldn't do anything. It's the rescuer's job to find you."

'_It's pointless trying to convince her I'm not a princess;'_ Mizore sighed mentally.

Xxxxx

Author's Note:

Yes, I know that Tsukune called his zanpakuto by first name. Yes, I know that Akasha hinted that he had failed to achieve bankai. Everything will be explained in later chapters, no more than three chapters from now.


	27. Chapter 27

Tsurara froze the last guard at the Thousand Year Frost Tree and couldn't help but to still be amazed by the sight. The last time she was here was when she gave birth to her daughter; under different circumstances she would be lost in memories, but right now she had to focus on helping the Priestess fix the barrier. She helped the Priestess over to the small piece of cliff reaching out to the ancient tree and gently set the oldest yuki-ona down before backing away. This was something only the Priestess would be able to do, and no one could assist in any way.

The Priestess stood up, shakily, and took a deep breath as she held her arms out in front of her, palms down. As she closed her eyes, she moved her arms to make two semi-circles around her; as she did this, an ice circle began to form on the ground around her. This was an ancient ritual that was unusually performed once ever century to repair damage that was done to the barrier, but right now she had to do it to completely fix the barrier; it was going to take every ounce of energy she could manage. Once the circle was complete, she spun around, keeping on arm where it was and letting the other swing with the rest of her body, and then brought her hands together. When her hands touched each other, her eyes turned as white as snow and she could feel what was done to the barrier.

She formed her ice claws as she reached for something that wasn't there to those around her, but she could see the inner workings of the barrier. On their way to where they were now, she had noticed some odd looking egg sac type thing attached to the lowest part of the tree. Now that she was viewing the workings of the barrier, she knew that it was that thing that had changed the barrier. Removing it was going to be a slight problem though; there was a seal on it that bound it to the barrier. Her ice claws met the seal and she felt heat, a lot of heat, and quickly pulled her hand away. Fairy Tale had taken precautions with the mysterious egg sac; then again, they had great resources.

After taking a very deep breath, she quickly reached out to the seal and began the incantation to destroy it. The seal didn't like what was being done to it and was trying to fight back with the heat that was supposed to be protecting it. The Priestess grit her teeth as she came to the last part of the incantation; finally destroying the seal. It took more out of her than she was expecting, but she should've seen it coming because of the heat that was around the seal. Sadly, this was only the first step in fixing the barrier.

She used her ice claws to follow the multiple runes that she could see until she found the one she was looking for. The ancient rune was the one that had once prevented Hollows from entering the village, but it was modified by the egg sac to allow Hollows to enter; while keeping shinigami out. Using her youki, she tried to repair the rune but was stopped by the egg sac that was changing it back just as fast as she was fixing it. With an annoyed glare, she caused several ice pillars to erupt from the cliff and strike the egg sac; freezing it, like a wart on someone's skin, until it fell off the millennium old tree. She turned her attention back to the rune and began to pour her youki into it. The rune glowed brightly as the rune returned to its original purpose. The Priestess collapsed to the ground as the ice circle around her shattered and her eyes stopped glowing.

"PRIESTESS!" Tsurara said with concern as she ran over to her.

"I am alright;" she patted "Fairy Tale just had a precaution I was not anticipating and it drained me. Now Hollows can no longer enter, and shinigami can; we must get a message to the Seireitei."

"A shinigami has already come;" Tsurara said in a confused tone "that is how I got in the palace."

"Then they are no shinigami; just a wolf in sheep's skin. If the 'shinigami' was able to enter through the barrier," as she looked at her helper "then they are more Hollow than shinigami. We must kill this imposter;" as she got up and struggled to get to the stairs with a killer intent in her eyes.

-Soifon-

The taichou sat in the bus as it continued through the purple haze. Her mind focused on one thing and one thing only; finding Tsukune so she could figure out just what the hell he was thinking. He already had enough over his head to cause him to get thrown into the Maggot's Nest, and now he dropped out of the Shinigami Academy after already being deployed on a mission. Now, she was charged with hunting him down; just when she thought she might actually be interested in someone.

"Tsukune;" she said as she saw a light down the way "hold on."

-Grimmjow-

It took the Arrancar a while to explain everything to his slightly hysterical unofficial girlfriend; the second she saw the bandages she started to freak out. It was a mystery to him how he managed to get her to stop rambling so he could explain everything. She handled it rather well considering the fact that he nearly died right in front of her; then again, he did tell her that that was a pretty regular thing lately. Now he was leaning against a wall in the Head Master's office waiting for the hooded man to start talking about whatever it was that he wanted to talk about. Odds were that it was about recent events and, more importantly, why Harribel was aligned with the living. That was something he wanted to know too. It wasn't like the Vasto Lorde to do something like that.

"Ya gonna start talkin';" he asked with an annoyed tone "or are ya just gonna look into that glass ball?"

The hooded man had been starring intently at the ball in his hands for the past five minutes; almost like a child starring in amazement at something it believed was 'cool'. His gaze had never left the ball for even a split second; not even when the thing fogged over from the inside for some reason.

"**Crystal;"** he corrected the panther **"mere glass cannot conduct magical energy. It would seem that something is preventing me from glimpsing into the future;"** as he put the ball back on the holder he took it from **"most unusual. The only thing that would cause that would be the extreme uncertainty of the person I was attempting to see."**

"Do ya ever stay on topic?"

"**But it has to do with the topic;"** with a snicker **"tell me about the ones that attacked and kidnapped my students."**

"I thought ya knew everythin' that happened in yer dimension;" with a snort.

"**This is normally true; however,"** as he looked at the Rosary of Judgment on his desk **"Fuhai and I were attempting to make progress on repairing the barrier. While in the room that the barrier's seal is at, I am unable to detect anything that happens in my dimension."**

The one drawback to the chamber he kept the barrier's inner workings in. The seals used needed to be completely separated from other seals; which meant he was pretty much blind about what happened on campus while he's in the chamber.

"Whatever," as he looked out the window "there were four of them; Harribel, two vampires, and some little kid. The red head vampire in my class said that the two vamps that were with Harribel were her sisters; Akua and Kahlua. I might've seen the small brat before, but I can't really remember."

"Shuzen Akua, the infamous Black Devil," he heard from the chair that was in front of the desk that nearly caused Grimmjow to jump "it would seem that Fairy Tale is involved in this mess somehow;" as along stream of smoke could be seen rising from the chair.

Mikogami nodded in agreement. Fairy Tale was an extreme radical group of Yokai that viewed humans as inferior and believed that they should be nothing more than slaves to Yokai. They've been called terrorists, and for good reasons; destroying human hospitals, slaughtering neighborhoods, and the occasional bombings were just at the top of the list. The organization would kill anyone that attempted to stop them; which was why his school was targeted last year. After he did some digging, he found that the dark organization had recruited Hokuto not long after he was first put in the infirmary during his first year.

"Fairy Tale?" Grimmjow asked "Aizen-teme mentioned them about sixty years ago; that doesn't explain why Harribel is teamed up with 'em."

"**Fairy Tale is roughly two hundred years old;"** the Head Master stated.

"If your former ally is a part of Fairy Tale now," Fuhai said as he took a deep puff of his pipe "then we can assume things are only going to get worse from here on out."

The hooded man nodded again; with recent events being as bad as they were, a lot of people could, and most likely would, end up dying because of the crossfire. Should that happen, many Hollows could be created and that would end up stretching the Seireitei's forces pretty far.

"I need to train a lot more;" Grimmjow growled to himself as he left the office.

Fuhai looked at his student as the door was closed.

"You didn't inform him about the boy;" as his eyes narrowed behind his spectacles "I know you noticed the stench that was coming from him. The stench that was similar to that of Alucard's."

"**While that may be true,"** the hooded man said **"I have faith that Tsukune-kun is more than capable of controlling the Shinso blood within him. After all, he is capable of a lot when he puts his mind to it;"** with a snicker.

-Tsukune-

The rogue shinigami looked at the relative of his former opponent and could feel just how much stronger she was than the previous vampire; than even Moka. Her reiatsu was almost like a black hole; sucking anything around it in. That wasn't going to make him turn back though; he was going to save his friends. He tightened his grip on Akasha; while he was still in no condition to fight because of the vast amount of blood he lost fighting and assisting his previous opponent, he would if he had too.

"I have no desire to kill you;" Akua said "that is only because you broke Moka-chan's seal and revealed her true self. I will defeat you though; don't doubt that for a second."

Without another word, Akua was in his face about to put her hand through his stomach. She could see his eyes widen as her hand got closer to him; a one wound victory should be more than enough to have the boy turn back. Taking care not to aim for any spots that could prove to be vital, she thrust her hand forward to impale him. Just as her hand was about to go into his midsection, he vanished with a burst of sonido; she wasn't surprised by this because she had already been advised that he had powers that were Hollow based since he was able to come through the barrier.

She heard a static like sound behind her and instinctively ducked down. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that ducking down like she did was a good idea since she dodged a kick that was aimed at her temple. It didn't take her long to see that her opponent was trained by the taichou she fought earlier that day. There was an easily noticeable difference between the two though; while the taichou went for spots that would cause pain and severe damage, Aono was going for a simple knock out hit; not to mention that his form was extremely sloppy.

The vampire grabbed his foot and threw him across the chamber they were in; causing him to crash into a pillar leaving a large dent in it. She didn't let up as she was on top of him the second he picked himself up off the floor ready to make a large gash down the right side of his body. To her surprise he managed to back up just enough to just have his outfit cut at the shoulder and managed to land a kick to her midsection. Tsukune had wide eyes as he realized that his kick wasn't enough to cause pain to register with his opponent and she threw him yet again.

"Release your zanpakuto and fight me;" Akua said with an annoyed voice "otherwise it won't look like I'm actually trying to kill you" as she pointed to the corner of the chamber.

Tsukune looked and saw one of the odd eyeball creatures that the Head Master had observing them without blinking. He pushed himself up off the ground and released his Shikai; this caused Akua to raise an eyebrow when he didn't use a release phrase. Using the small opening she had just caused, he appeared in front of her mid-swing; to his dismay though, she backed just out of the blade's reach and only had her black dress cut a little. She then retaliated by grabbing his wrist, kneeing him in the gut, kicking him in the face with the same leg, and landing a succession of punches to his side just before through throwing him into a wall.

The rogue shinigami barely managed to pick himself up again; he was facing an opponent that he didn't have the skill to beat, again. Unlike last time though, he doubted that he would be able to overpower her like he did the Double Ganger; at least, not with his Shikai. Blood ran down his face from a cut that had formed above his eyebrow because of the boot that hit him before he centered Akasha and vanished with sonido. He reappeared behind his opponent, ready to make a slash across her back, only to get a kick to the gut that sent him through the pillar he hit earlier.

"Is this all a shinigami's zanpakuto is capable of?" Akua asked as she narrowed her eyes at the pile of rubble that was on top of her opponent "is this all _you_ are capable of?" obviously angered "I believed that you were powerful to have been able to break Moka-chan's seal, but you are nothing more than a weakling; even with your zanpakuto completely released! I can barely stomach the thought of how weak you had to have been when you were alive!"

The rubble shifted and Tsukune stood up out of it using Akasha as a support; his breathing labored, his uniform now missing both sleeves, and a small river of blood was running down his right arm from the debris that was sticking out of his shoulder.

"It's not completely released;" he patted "this is only my Shikai. There's one more release" as he looked at her.

Akua's eyes went wide when she heard this; the taichou she was fighting didn't even need to fully release her zanpakuto to be able to defeat her. Just what was a shinigami truly capable of? That was the question running through her head as she continued to stare at the shinigami in front of her. She knew that they had spells that they could cast like witches do; yet Aono hadn't used any, not that she was giving him the time to.

Tsukune continued to catch his breath as he remembered his battle with Akasha.

-Flashback: one day ago-

Tsukune sat soaking in the pool as he massaged his neck. His training with Bloodriver had been going pretty good and had even learned the ability Bloodriver had mentioned. From what he now knew about his zanpakuto's abilities, it was meant for combat more than anything else; this troubled him. He didn't like the thought of solely being a fighter; not saying he wouldn't fight when he needed to, he just didn't like thinking that that was all he'd be able to do with his abilities.

"I know the thought of being a weapon troubles you, Tsukune-kun;" he heard Bloodriver say to him "but do not think of it in that manner. Think of it as a way to be the one that eases the burden from another's shoulders by being a comrade, ally, or a protector. Should you continue to look at yourself as if you are nothing more than a weapon, others will look at you in the same manner. Look at yourself as the one that will do what others might not; be the one that will step between them and an enemy should the need arise."

Tsukune looked back at his partner and could see by the look in her eyes that she knew what she was talking about. He knew better than to doubt or question his zanpakuto spirit since he knew her age; which he was still trying to comprehend how she barely looked thirty even though she explained it.

"After we're done training here" Tsukune said "I need to go to the Visoreds so I can keep Ghoul from taking over for good."

The uncertainty in his voice didn't go unnoticed by his zanpakuto; it was easy to notice how Tsukune felt by the sound of his voice.

"You are unsure of your abilities;" the zanpakuto spirit said point blank "you doubted yourself because last time Ghoul possessed you, you barely managed to regain control. I explained why I did not assist you in keeping Ghoul suppressed already; I was showing you that you cannot always rely on me for everything. I have kept Ghoul in check up until yesterday because of your proximity to Akashiya Moka;" as she walked up to him "now that you know that I will not always be able to assist you, you must get stronger on your own. How much do you know about bankai?"

Tsukune had a confused look on his face when his zanpakuto spirit asked him this. He had a feeling that the question was rhetorical, but had a purpose behind it, because she already knew far more about zanpakuto and shinigami than he did.

"It's supposed to take a long time to achieve," he said "and even then, only a few ever actually gain bankai. Why, Bloodriver-chan?"

"Are you aware of what is required to achieve bankai?"

"A test of some sort;" not seeing where his zanpakuto was going with the questions.

"Every test is different;" the Shinso said "Tensa-kun had Ichigo-kun battle him while searching for the blade that held the piece of himself that drove him to fight. I will test you in a similar manner when the time comes."

Little did Tsukune realize, she was already putting him through the test. The 'training' he was going through wasn't normal training; she had been pushing him to his limit and was rarely letting up. He had progressed a lot in just the past twenty four hours; he knew the attack that he gained through Ichigo's blood, and had found a way to use his Shikai so it would be far more effective. While he was still working on being flexible enough to use the new style properly, it was better than just swinging the blade around like he's been doing.

"We should continue your training;" as she stood up.

Tsukune got out of the pool and carefully shook the water from his hair so he didn't accidently hit Bloodriver with any. While he wasn't sure about what types of water would hurt his zanpakuto spirit, but he didn't want to find out if the pool water was on the list. As soon as he felt that his hair was dry enough, he put his top back on and drew his zanpakuto. Bloodriver was already in her battle stance; her manifested Shikai in her left hand and extended away from her body a bit, her right hand was in the air above her head with her arm bent, and her feet were just further than shoulder length apart.

"Drink;" he said as his reiatsu reached up the blade "Bloodriver" as the blade converted to its Shikai state and he dawned his armor pieces as well.

The zanpakuto spirit charged towards her wielder; he might be faster than her, but she had centuries of experience and could easily see his movements. Her blade was blocked by Tsukune's, but she didn't let up; she pushed her wielder backwards with ease and then threw a kick at his head. She wasn't putting as much strength as she normally would into the kick, but it was still enough to hurt her wielder should he fail to dodge the simple attack. The brown haired shinigami ducked underneath the leg that was coming towards his head and attempted to kick out the leg Bloodriver was using as a base. To his dismay though, his zanpakuto spirit jumped over the attack that was meant to knock her to the ground.

Their battle continued for another hour or so; Bloodriver had made several wounds on her wielder, but he was taking the training far more seriously when she showed him she was serious about fighting. Because she already knew about Ketsujin, she could launch one without calling the name; given it was nowhere near as powerful as when the name was called out, but she wasn't trying to do too much damage to her wielder. From what she could tell so far, he most likely wouldn't be able to achieve bankai; even though she was throwing attacks at him that were easily taichou level in strength, he was still holding back when he fought. After Tsukune rested for ten minutes, they continued their training. This went on for the next day; until around noon.

Tsukune blocked another attack from his zanpakuto spirit as he felt a weird reiatsu coming from outside of the canyon. He looked towards the exit.

"What was that?" he asked just before he sneezed as he pushed away from Bloodriver.

"Are you alright Tsukune-kun?" the vampire asked him.

"Hai;" with a look that showed he was worried "something tells me I need to be careful when I go back to class."

Bloodriver raised a confused eyebrow at his statement; she put up the barrier so he shouldn't be able to sense all the reiatsu that was building up outside. She blocked the horizontal slash that her wielder had attempted while she was thinking. She was upset that he wasn't fighting with kido or his Arrancar abilities; in a true fight you use every ability you have to win, he was holding back far too much. Because of her inability to use sonido or shunpo, Tsukune should've been able to defeat her long ago; yet he was still taking far too many injuries from her and wasn't dealing enough on her. It was time to open his eyes to what she was doing.

"Do you believe that this is a game; Tsukune-kun?" she asked in an irritated voice.

"What?"

The sudden change in the normally kind vampire had caught him completely off guard.

"Have you wondered why it is that no one has come down into the cavern in the past two days?" as she pushed him away "I erected a barrier to prevent our reiatsu from leaking out and alerting anyone to what we were doing and to keep them out."

She could see her wielder, while starting to catch up, was still confused.

"I told you that a part of you bankai training would include searching for the part of yourself that drives you to battle;" as she attacked again and made a small slice on his chest "but I never told you what the training shall truly be;" as she attacked again and was blocked, but still launched Tsukune into a boulder "as a vampire, I cannot bring myself to allow you to wield the bankai I will give you unless you can show me that you have what it takes to force me to submit to you."

Tsukune coughed up blood as he pushed himself out of the boulder. She was trying to get him to force her to submit to him; he couldn't do that to her. He viewed her as a friend, his ally, his partner; he had no desire to force her to submit. Bloodriver narrowed her eyes, she could see that he still wasn't going to come at her serious enough to defeat her; so she lowered the barrier and let him feel what was going on on the outside.

"Do you feel the reiatsu that is on campus;" she asked him as he barely picked himself up "that reiatsu is being emitted by a Vasto Lorde class Arrancar and the sudden spikes in Jagerjaquez-san's and Soifon-taichou's should tell you that the Arrancar is not an ally. All of your friends are battling the Arrancar and the group it brought with them."

Tsukune quickly started running towards the exit so he could help his friends. As he got close enough to push the door, he felt Bloodriver grab his top and throw him back to where he was. As he slid across the ground, he realized how strong she truly was and was surprised even though he knew she was a Shinso vampire.

"If you cannot battle me seriously," she said as she stood between her wielder and the door "then you hold no chance of defeating the group that has attacked Yokai Academy. The only way I will allow you to leave this canyon is for you to defeat me;" as her eyes narrowed.

-End Flashback-

Tsukune and Akua continued to stare at each other; Akua waiting for her opponent to show her what he was talking about when he said that there was another level to a zanpakuto. If she could defeat his highest release, then she would feel less irritated by how the fight had been going; if not, then she would accept that and strive to get stronger.

Tsukune could see fingers beginning to reach across his vision and knew what it meant; Ghoul was taking over, and it wasn't by his choice this time. Between how much damage he took in the fight with his last opponent and how much he had just taken, it was a mystery as to why his darker half hadn't taken over already. He put his hand over his right eye to hide what was happening from his opponent.

'_**Unless ya want me to smack this bitch around;'**_ he heard Ghoul say to him _**'quite holdin' back.'**_

He knew that Ghoul was right, for whatever reason his Hollow self was telling him this, and he was going to have to go all out. He was going to have to fight her far more seriously if he expected to beat her so he could save his friends.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this;" as he put both his hands on the hilt of his zanpakuto "but I need to save Mizore-chan and Kurumu-chan."

He began to circulate his reiatsu between Akasha and himself and built it up until the red energy was visible around him. He hasn't had any time to train with it just yet, but Ichigo told him that he didn't have time to train with his bankai either. Bloodriver had told him enough about it so he could fight with it if he needed too; which he needed to right now. Akua's eyes widened as she felt the shinigami's reiatsu increase to where it felt like it was pushing down on her. Given it wasn't enough to force her to the ground, but it was much more than it was earlier.

"Bankai;" as his zanpakuto glowed and the rubble that was around him was sent flying.

Akua covered her eyes to keep any of the debris from landing in them.

-Mizore and Kurumu-

The black and white duet had been listening to the guards when they felt the powerful youki pressing down on them. Both of them were having issues breathing with how much it weighed down on them. While they were having issues breathing, they knew who it belonged to; it was Eiyu. Of course, Mizore was having an increasing suspicion that Eiyu was actually Tsukune after she read what she could on shinigami. Regardless though, they were going to be saved.

-Miyabi-

The leader of the first subdivision of Fairy Tale looked back towards the door he just walked through and narrowed his eyes. The reiatsu was just as Harribel had said, lower taichou; it wasn't very refined though, and the level of control that the owner had over it wasn't very good. He turned back to the crypt that was currently being opened up.

"It's done;" his subordinate said.

"Good;" as he entered the crypt "I'm going to need this" as he reached for the white katana that was being held by a skeleton in a white ceremonial kimono.

As he pulled the katana from the skeleton, the bones that made up the arm fell unceremoniously to the ground and clattered against each other. He exited the crypt with the long white ribbon that was attached to the katana flowing behind him as he walked.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou just finished dealing with the group of Yokai that attacked her when she entered the village. She was expecting yuki-ona to greet, or attack, her; not these aquatic Yokai that were extremely out of place on the snow covered mountain. So far she hasn't bothered to release her Shikai, knowing that the slight increase in her reiatsu would alert more of the out of place Yokai to her presence, and it was still easier than she was expecting. Right now her focus was to retrieve Tsukune, and the two he came here to save, and return to Yokai Academy; after that she'd knock some sense into her subordinate.

Just as she started heading to the large castle in the distance, she felt reiatsu that was equal to a low level taichou's. Her eyes widened as she finally recognized it as Tsukune's and she quickly shunpo to the castle where it seemed to be radiating from.

-Akua-

The vampire moved her hands from her eyes and saw her opponent dressed in what she could best describe as a more complete set of armor. His shin guards had become knee high combat boots made of the same material as the shin guards were, his gauntlet was now less bulky and he was dawning one on each arm, and his zanpakuto had now taken the shape of some sort of long sword/claymore hybrid that came up over his waist. The new additions to the armor were a chest plate that had a scaled plate design, the shoulder plates had the same elaborate runes on them that his boots did, and there was a cloth attached to the scaled plate armor by a leather belt that made it look almost like a dress. In addition to that, his eyes' pupils were now slits and his hair went down to his ankles, almost touching the floor he stood on. (Author's Note: if you want to see what it actually looks like, go to the Rosario+Vampire wikia and search the Three Hades Lords; it's what Akasha is wearing.)

She noticed that the blood that was once flowing down his arm had stopped and was hardening where it sat. Healing abilities on that level should only belong to a Shinso vampire; if he did have the blood of a Shinso flowing in his veins then that meant that her sister had given it to him, or at least some of it. Her eyes narrowed just before she vanished and sliced through the shinigami's left shoulder using Jigen-Tou causing him to take a step to keep himself from spinning. If he did have the blood of a Shinso running through him, then she was going to take it.

Tsukune saw every movement that his opponent had taken to slice through his shoulder; while she was surprisingly fast, his now vampiric eyes easily followed her. For some reason he didn't feel the pain of nearly having his arm sliced off by the attack that Akua had used; he made a note to ask Akasha about that later. The reason he didn't block Akua's attack was because he wasn't used to his new strength and his reflexes were off as far as timing went because of his new vision, and strength. He heard Akua plant her foot against the wall behind him and push off of it; he spun around and went to block her hand with his blade.

As the reiatsu enhanced steel met the dimension bending hand, the latter was stopped as Akua continued to push the shinigami into a pillar. The assassin's eyes widened as she noticed this and went to attack again; only to have her hand stopped again as her opponent re-angled his blade to stop her second hand. When her hand clashed against the shinigami's fully released zanpakuto, the dent that they had made grew even larger before the pillar gave out and they went through the other side; but her opponent didn't seem to be phased in the least. Her suspicion about the shinigami having the blood of a Shinso in him was nearly confirmed as she saw the gash she made on him begin to heal in a way that made her remember her battle with Moka's mother.

"What is your zanpakuto's name?" she demanded to know.

Every shinigami she had faced before him had to say their zanpakuto's name in order to reveal what her current opponent called 'Shikai'. Yet here he is with something called 'bankai' and he has yet to reveal his zanpakuto's name.

"Akasha Bloodriver" he said as he noticed a small amount of blood running down his blade from his opponent's hand.

Akua's eyes began to shake as she stepped away from the shinigami; how did she not see it earlier? The armor he was wearing now was the same that she had seen in the library at her father's castle. Now that she knew who his zanpakuto is, she felt foolish for ever attacking him to begin with; she never stood a chance against him, or at least not any more. With the power of Akasha behind him, she held no hope of defeating him.

"The door over there;" finally getting a hold of herself "will take you to where the yuki-ona and succubus are" as she pointed at the door with a set of stairs that went up.

The rogue shinigami looked at the stairs with suspicion; he knew she could be pointing towards a trap, but he could feel Mizore's and Kurumu's reiatsu coming from that direction. He also felt a far stronger reiatsu that was harder to put an exact place with as he faced his vampire opponent.

"Why are you helping me;" letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"I realize that attempting to continue fighting you is pointless;" as she looked to the ground "it is clear that you are the strong of the two of us. Only more so since your zanpakuto is Bloodriver Akasha. I only ask that you make my death quick."

Those words caught Tsukune completely off guard. He didn't come here to kill anyone; the fact that he helped his previous opponent showed that. Why was Moka's sister wanting him to kill her?

"I didn't come here to kill my friends' relatives;" as he turned and quickly walked over to the stairs "I came here to save my friends."

"I must atone for taking Moka-chan's mother from her!" Akua shouted "now end my life!"

The meaning behind the words Akua shouted at him escaped him completely. Before he could turn around to answer the vampire, he heard something tearing through flesh. When Akua looked down to her chest, where the noise originated from, she saw a hand sticking out and what appeared to be an expensive jacket sleeve. She knew who it belonged to even before she was tossed aside.

"You have your wish;" Miyabi said in a cold tone.

"AKUA!" Tsukune shouted as he blindly charged the new opponent.

After the first step he launched a Ketsujin at the red haired man. At first glance, he could tell that the attack was similar to Kurosaki's Getsuga Tensho. Miyabi swatted the blood based attack away and saw that the shinigami was almost on top of him ready to take a horizontal swing. He doubted he was going to need to draw the white katana that was in his belt to stop the simple attack.

'_Predictable'_ he thought with a sigh as he caught the blade with his bare hand.

Tsukune's eyes went wide as he came to a complete stop because of the new opponent. Akasha had told him that his strength when using bankai would increase to nearly Shinso level; yet this mysterious man just stopped him with his bare hand and the only damage he took was a cut to his palm. His confusion only grew as the man used his free hand to barely tap his blade; this caused the armor on his stomach to explode off of him as he felt like his insides had just been obliterated and he spat up blood. He considered himself lucky that he didn't need blood on his blade to heal when using bankai; he could already feel his body tissue repairing itself.

"It would seem that your bankai is hindering you more than it is helping you;" Miyabi said as he threw Tsukune towards where he threw Akua "while you may have extreme healing capabilities and strength, you lack the ability to use any of your Hollow powers as well as kido. Your zanpakuto is similar to Kurosaki's in the sense that you compress all your reiatsu into such a small blade considering bankai is normally large."

Tsukune grit his teeth as he pushed himself up off the ground and saw Akua sitting on her knees looking at the chain attached to her chest with a confused, fearful, and worried look. His eyes moved to Akua's corpse and he felt an anger growing in him. The rogue shinigami charged the man again, this time building up reiatsu in his blade. As his blade clashed against the blade the man had drawn just in time to block, he launched a Ketsujin and sent the man through a pillar. As the dust and debris started to settle, he saw a red light beginning to grow closer to him. He didn't have time to avoid the cero and ended up taking the full force of the blast and was sent through the last pillar that was in the chamber. Before he could get up, he felt a hand around his throat and his air way becoming constricted.

"You have been a thorn in Aizen-sama's side for too long;" Miyabi said as he watched Tsukune's bankai retract to its fully sealed state "in here," as the shinigami tried to break the grip "no one will feel your reiatsu disappear. They won't even feel your spirit particles dissipate after you die. No one will know anything that happened in this room."

Tsukune's vision began to fail him as he fought to stay conscious. When he heard the man say that no one would know what happened in the room they were in, he made the decision without any hesitation.

"T… Thank… You;" he gasped as his grip on Akasha quickly became lighter and lighter.

Before Miyabi could question what the shinigami meant by thanking him, he felt a hand grab the arm he was using to strangle the boy and saw his own blood erupt from his body as a large gash was made from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Grimmjow threw a punch at the old man that said he would help him get stronger. It gave him a weird feeling, accepting help from the single most feared man in China; but he wasn't going to complain, if it got him strong enough to be able to take on Harribel, he didn't give a flying fuck.

"If you can't even hit me when I'm in this form," Fuhai said with a sigh as he leaned against Grimmjow's arm in mid air "then you won't stand a chance against me in my younger form."

"I'll show ya;" as he threw a kick at the man, only to have him grab his leg and do a side flip over it.

This had been going on for the past half hour; Grimmjow trying to hit the old man, and failing on an epic level. Every time the far more experienced man would easily dodge the attack with skills that he had honed over his very long life. Of course he could just use his Resurrection, but he wanted to get stronger without it.

"GRIMMI!" they heard get called out from the entrance to the canyon.

The two looked over and saw Shizuka walking over to them.

"And who might you be pretty young lady?" Fuhai asked as he appeared right in front of her.

"Awe;" with an adoring tone "my grandpa tries to flirt with woman my age too."

Upon hearing that, the old man was quickly in a corner in tears looking at his manga and going on about how the women in them never say such cruel things.

Xxxx

Author's note:  
I know it looks like Tsukune has bankai, I'll explain it better when he goes to the Visoreds.


	28. Chapter 28

"You have been a thorn in Aizen-sama's side for too long;" Miyabi said as he watched Tsukune's bankai retract to its fully sealed state "in here," as the shinigami tried to break the grip "no one will feel your reiatsu disappear. They won't even feel your spirit particles dissipate after you die. No one will know anything that happened in this room."

Tsukune's vision began to fail him as he fought to stay conscious. When he heard the man say that no one would know what happened in the room they were in, he made the decision without any hesitation.

"T… Thank… You;" he gasped as his grip on Akasha quickly became lighter and lighter.

Before Miyabi could question what the shinigami meant by thanking him, he felt a hand grab the arm he was using to strangle the boy and saw his own blood erupt from his body as a large gash was made from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. He threw the boy backwards and put some distance between them as he held the deepest part of the wound he had just received.

"**Ya shoulda kept that last part to yerself;"** he heard from the boy in a chuckle as the shinigami rubbed his throat **"'Cause now yer fucked!"**

The shinigami looked at him and he could see yellow irises set blackened sclera through the long thick brown hair that hung over his face. Miyabi's eyes widened; he wasn't expecting Aono to just hand over control to his Hollow side. If that would've been the plan, then he would've had Harribel stay here and dismissed Kahlua and Akua; given he wanted the shinigami to lose control of his Hollow, but not here. The barrier that the shinigami had set up around the village not only killed Hollows that tried to enter, but had a side effect that made the spirit particles condense within the village; now that Aono had given control to his Hollow, it was most likely going to unconsciously feed on the spirit particles in the air and slowly grow stronger. Ghoul laughed as he noticed the blade in his opponent's hand while his skin turned black and a mask fragment formed on the right side of his head.

"What do you find funny?" Miyabi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"**This is my second time seein' that sword;"** as he shook his head **"and seein' it in yer hands,"** as he vanished with sonido and appeared above his opponent **"****makes me sick!"**

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire had an annoyed look on her face as she tuned out her sister's worried words. She had spent the past few hours going back and forth between being asleep and drinking from blood packets. While she was thankful that Mizore had saved her life, it irritated her that she couldn't do any damage to the mysterious blonde woman that had kidnapped her friends. She couldn't figure out what the woman's connection was to her family; she only knew that it was safe to say it was at least a mutual connection otherwise Akua wouldn't have helped her.

"Onee-sama;" Kokoa said managing to snap the stronger vampire out of her thoughts "I asked if you know where that Kenpachi coward is at so I can kick his ass for not being there to try to help fight."

"He is currently on a rescue mission;" they heard an older voice say "to rescue your friends."

The two looked over to the source of the voice and saw Fuhai standing in the doorway. Moka recognized him, barely because of how long it had been since she last saw him, and knew that he was a friend of her mother.

"Touhou-sama;" Moka said to him with what she could manage as a bow "it has been a long time."

The seal master glanced at the cross that was attached to the chocker collar around Moka's neck. At first glance he could already tell everything that was wrong with it. While it was succeeding in limiting her strength and youki, the fact that the silver haired girl was sitting in front of him and that he could still feel the power of a Shinso coming from her suggested that it could be beyond repair.

"What happened to the seal I made?" as he jumped on the bed, landed in her lap and pulled it closer to him so he could try to figure out what exactly happened.

"Tsukune used it to repair the barrier and save the school;" feeling a little uneasy about how close the elderly man was "I didn't put it back on until recently. But my outer self seems to be missing from it."

"Why didn't you remove it when you were attacked by the Arrancar and your sisters?" as he let go of the cross and looked at the daughter of his closest friend.

"Only Tsukune could remove it…"

"Not anymore;" the old man said as he fought the urge to pull out his pipe and start smoking "that seal is now nothing more than a limiter. A poor one at that, but it is still a limiter. Had you removed it you could've defeated at least Kahlua; the blood of a Shinso runs through your veins, you need to learn how to utilize it."

"ARE YA CALLIN' ONEE-SAMA WEAK?" Kokoa shouted at the old man.

"Hai;" he said bluntly "she has the blood of Bloodriver Akasha running through her veins, and, because of how weak she was when she was born, the blood of a Shinso. Out of the Hades Lords," as he looked at Moka "only your mother had the strength to be able to stand up to a Vasto Lorde class Hollow and have the chance of walking away from that fight. If you can learn to turn your blood into refined and controlled power, then you can have the ability to do the same."

The silver haired vampire watched as the old man left the room and she thought about what he had said. Not just what he had said either; what the blonde woman that nearly killed her had said. She had gotten so used to no one being stronger than her that she felt no true desire to train to get stronger or to learn how to control her power. That was a grave mistake; had she trained to control the power she has within her, maybe she could've held her ground longer. Her eyes hardened as she decided to begin training as hard as she could once her leg was healed.

-Head Master-

The hooded man just looked at Yamamoto with a calm face; the current subject of their conversation being the shinigami that had just gone rogue. The seal user had played just about every card he could to ensure that Tsukune wouldn't get thrown into the Maggot's Nest or have to return to the Rukongai. There was still one card he could play, but that could very well put a strain on his relationship with the sou-taichou; however, he wasn't seeing any other way.

"**I could always re-enroll him under his real name and in the year he needs to be;"** he said in a monotone.

The sou-taichou cracked his eyes open at the comment. His long time friend was beginning to hint at something that could be very disastrous for shinigami if he went through with whatever he was thinking about. Shinigami have operated in the dark for countless years, even from yokai; if yokai learned of the existence of shinigami then word could spread to humans and then shinigami would no longer be operating in the dark.

"**I'm sure Tsukune-kun would prefer to not have to lie to his friends about his identity. It would also reduce his stress levels if they knew exactly what has happened since he died;"** as he tapped his chin.

"What are you trying to say?"

"**For starters;"** as he tapped his desk pointing out the two envelopes on it **"all I would need from Tsukune-kun to do this is two signatures. The first on the letter of withdrawal as Kenpachi Eiyu, and the second on the application to enroll in the Academy again; since he will be considered a spirit being he won't face the dangers that he did last year. I will of course inform him that he is free to tell his friends about the Soul Society."**

He could see the irritation on the old shinigami's face.

"**The way I see it, we have two options. We can continue this 'pissing contest', as I've heard many of my students call arguments that are attempts to show strength; or, we wait until Soifon-taichou returns with Tsukune-kun and we discuss more options with him. Undoubtedly though, he will most likely seek out the shinigami that has Hollow powers for more training."**

"Are you saying Aono has an inner Hollow?"

"**Everyone has an inner Hollow;"** with a snicker **"Tsukune-kun's is just stronger than normal. Of course that isn't entirely his fault; the blood Akashiya Moka injected into him had some nasty side effects. When he was alive he was, in fact, a Ghoul. I had given him a Holy Locket to keep it under control, and he was doing rather well until he sacrificed himself to save the Academy three weeks before you sent him here with Soifon-taichou to do a recon mission."**

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes at his friend; he knew what the hooded man was getting at. He had broken their agreement, to keep shinigami and Yokai, respectively, from interfering with each other by sending a patrol to Yokai Academy. Had he informed the seal user about the spike of reiatsu that had showed up on Kurotsuchi-taichou's detector and then planned on what to do from there, this debate would be a little more friendly and far less personal.

"You said that Akashiya Moka injected Aono with her blood?" the hooded man nodded "is this the same Akashiya Moka that is the daughter of Bloodriver Akasha?" another nod.

The oldest shinigami let out a long sigh; he still felt grief for not being able to make it to the mansion in time to fight the reawakening Alucard. Had he been able to get there sooner, Akasha would still be alive and Alucard would have been destroyed by Yamamoto's bankai since he was in a weakened state and wouldn't have been able to heal fast enough.

"**I believe it may be time to blend our affairs for the events that are to come;"** the Head Master said.

"It would seem so;" Yamamoto agreed "I authorized Kenpachi Zaraki-taichou to make a visit to your Academy. Before I did that though, I made him swear on his fuku-taichou that he would not destroy anything."

"**The pink haired child?"**

"Hai; Zaraki-taichou was livid when he heard Aono went AWOL and Unohana-taichou mentioned that Aono had given Zaraki-taichou his word that he would keep Yachiru safe."

"**Thank you for the foresight; I'll make sure to show him where the underground training area is and have Fuhai-sensei put up his strongest barrier to help keep things contained."**

-Ghoul-

The darker half of Tsukune brought down the zanpakuto in his hands to make a slash down his opponent's torso, only to hear their blades ring as he was blocked. It pissed him off that this guy stole someone else's weapon; he might be an asshole, but he had honor. He lightened his grip on the zanpakuto in his hand, spun around, landed a powerful kick to the thief's head, and knocked overdressed man away from him. It didn't knock his opponent as far as he was hoping it would, but it was enough.

"**Hado Number Thirty One: Shakkaho"** Ghoul called out as he held out his free hand.

Miyabi barely had enough time to get out of the path of the kido spell. That was not something he was expecting a Hollow to be able to use at all; it had caught him off guard for a split second, but he recollected himself in time to keep from getting hit. Something told him that this fight was not going to be as easy as he was hoping.

"**I hope ya didn't completely black out Tsukune!"** Ghoul shouted out to no one in particular **"'Cause I'm gonna show ya the real way to use yer zanpakuto!"**

With a burst of sonido he was right in front of Miyabi again; this time taking a horizontal swing at the man. Just before the blade could touch the man's jacket, he vanished with his own burst of sonido; this time, Ghoul was the one caught off guard. The possessed shinigami ducked as fast as he could when he felt the man's presence behind him, and had a few strains of his long hair cut down to shoulder length. The removed strands of hair slowly fell to the ground before getting caught by Ghoul's leg as he kicked his opponent in the side. He mentally cursed as he felt like his leg hit something hard; his opponent had Hierro too. He followed up by twisting his body and landing a powerful kick to the side of his opponent's face. He didn't like fighting with kicks because of who it reminded him of, but right now he couldn't risk putting the zanpakuto in his hands down so he could fight with his fist.

The kick to Miyabi's face knocked him back enough to allow Ghoul to regain his footing and continue his assault. As he went to slash at the mastermind behind the kidnapping of his friends, the blade in his hands clashed against the white blade in his opponent's. It didn't surprise Ghoul that the shinigami zanpakuto in his hands wasn't able to break a piece of the blade away; the white blade that his opponent was using was a zanpakuto too.

"**Ketsujin;"** Ghoul said with perfect pronunciation.

The blood based attack engulfed his opponent and sent him flying backwards and through a wall. The Crimson colored fluid was splattered on the wall around the hole that was made. Before he could think to do anything else, a blade ripped through his stomach as he heard a burst of sonido behind him. Whoever this guy was, he had been trained on a whole other level; Aizen must have trained him every day, or at least had him trained every day. He could feel reiatsu building up behind him that would be used for a cero; just as he sensed it had enough reiatsu in it, the blade in his gut was suddenly pulled out with a burst of sonido. When he turned around, he saw Akua standing next to where his opponent had been with her hand positioned to where it looked like she tried to slice him.

"**I didn't ask for yer help vampire;"** Ghoul spat at her.

"I never asked if you wanted it;" she said back "you are precious to Moka-chan and I couldn't live with myself if I knew she was sad because of your death when I could've done something to prevent it."

"**Let me put it to ya this way;"** as he grabbed her by the fabric that covered her chest and turned her to look her in the eyes **"*I* **_**hate**_** yer kind. Tsukune's the idiot that can't open his fuckin' eyes to see the truth. Now stay out of my fight or I'll kill ya instead of this fucker."**

Miyabi looked at the two with a raise eyebrow. The Hollowified Tsukune just said that he hated vampires and he wasn't trying to kill the one that was standing next to him. That made him curious as to why; he was missing something. Tsukune's Hollow hadn't made any attempts to take over prior to him nearly killing Tsukune; why? The only thing he could think of sounded very absurd; the shinigami somehow made a deal with his Hollow.

His line of thought was cut off as he blocked another attack from the possessed shinigami; this was slowly getting ridiculous. He couldn't make heads or tails of his opponent. He said he hates vampires, but wasn't trying to kill the one in the room; said he was sickened by seeing the white blade in Miyabi's possession, yet he was wielding Tsukune's zanpakuto. His opponent was almost impossible to figure out; the only thing that he could think of to describe the Hollow was hypocritical. As he began to be pushed back, he could tell the difference between the shinigami and his Hollow. Tsukune didn't fight to kill, it wasn't in him; his Hollow though, it was attacking with everything and leaving very few openings that could be used against him. Then there was the power gap that seemed to exist between the two. While they both had a similar feel to their reiatsu, that slightly refined and barely controlled feel, the Hollow had more reiatsu for some reason.

A grin found its way onto Ghoul's face as he was pushed off of his opponent. This fight was becoming more and more fun without taking off the cross around his neck. Tsukune was an idiot to think that the damned thing only kept his reiatsu from being detected. If that wasn't enough, he could feel that he was slowly getting stronger as the fight drew out; that told him the air around him was extremely dense with spirit particles. He blocked the white blade as he took a small step back; his opponent was pushing him to his limits, and he was enjoying every second of the fight because of that. While he was enjoying the fight, he was focused on beating the overdressed man because he had his friends kidnapped.

"Something on your mind; Hollow?" Miyabi asked when he noticed the irritation on his opponent's face.

"**Ya; first,"** as he dug his feet into the ground and retaliated against the blade pushing against his **"I ain't a fuckin' Hollow. I'm a ghoul;"** with a flare of his reiatsu as he pushed his opponent away **"second, I don't get ta kill any vampires. And third, and possibly yer biggest fuck up;"** as he began to charge a cero in his left hand **"you kidnapped my friends!"**

Miyabi's eyes widened as the crimson red beam ripped through the air towards him when the possessed Tsukune stopped talking. He had only ever seen a cero charge that fast before once, and that was from Ulquiorra. All he could do was try to get out of the path of the reiatsu attack and hope that the palace didn't start coming down on top of them. With a quick burst of sonido, he managed to get out of the path of the cero and watched it blast a hole the size of three Cyclopes through the wall. The head of the first sub-division of Fairy Tale considered himself lucky to have been able to get out of the path of such a large attack.

He heard a burst of sonido and readied the white blade in his hands to block. Metal clashed against metal as he began to have a power struggle with the jet black, Hollow-like creature he was fighting. Everything had been going perfectly until Aono came through the barrier; he had not only the yuki-ona he came for, but a succubus that could lure in the souls he needed to create a new Hogyoku. And in just half an hour, the shinigami had practically ruined everything; the Priestess had been freed, the barrier repaired, Aono had somehow caused both his top agents to yield, and he could now sense a shinigami taichou in the village approaching fast. If that wasn't enough, now he had _very_ little hope in talking Aono's Hollow into joining him.

The red haired man managed to push Ghoul back and began his own assault against him. His jet black opponent went to block, but was too slow and received a horizontal cut across his chest. It annoyed him that his opponent was somehow ignoring the pain of being wounded by the white weapon; the blade wasn't a zanpakuto, it was a physical weapon. Why wasn't his opponent fearful of a physical weapon that could injure him? He blocked the blade that threatened to make a similar wound on him and was forced back as the Hollowified Tsukune kept pushing. Thinking on his toes, he blocked a vertical attack and used the blood stained ribbon to get a hold of his opponent's arm.

Ghoul's eyes widened a split second before he got spun around on the ribbon and thrown across the chamber their fight was going on in. Before he could recover, Miyabi was behind him and made a diagonal slash across his back; this caused two small wing like protrusions to be visible. But just like before, he didn't register the pain that came with getting wounded in such a way; he just blocked the next attack and focused solely on killing his opponent.

Metallic ringing was heard repeatedly as the two combatants blocked each other's attacks; much to both of their annoyance. Miyabi because he had spent fifteen years training, shed blood, sweat and even tears due to pain, and he was being matched by someone that had less than two months of true combat experience. And when he did cause an injury, his opponent just wrote it off like it was just a scratch even though he was bleeding a lot. He noticed that there was still blood on his opponent's blade, and it was being absorbed by the metal. Was this how he was able to keep going; his zanpakuto using blood to heal him? It made sense since Ghoul hadn't fired off a Ketsujin in a while.

Ghoul was irritated because he couldn't get through his opponent's defense as easily any more. Just using his skills with the light blade was making this very difficult for him; he'd have to use Tsukune's skills, he'd have to fight like his weaker half. That thought was not very appealing to him since he was trying to prove he was stronger than his supposed 'human' half. He flipped the long blade around and held it in a more defensive manner just in time to block another attack; pushing against the blade, he was able to move it so he could get closer to his opponent and put all his strength into a punch.

The hit not only broke through Miyabi's Hierro with a powerful crack, but Ghoul's own as well. Miyabi felt like his jaw had been cracked thanks to that punch, but it wasn't going to stop him from killing the possessed shinigami. His plans had been pretty much ruined thanks to the once living person, and now he had to come up with a plan 'B'; he hated having to come up with a plan 'B'. First thing he'd have to do, kill Aono; after that it should be smooth sailing for him.

Ghoul grit his teeth as he felt his knuckles crack because of the hit he just landed. It was enough to push the older man back and slam his knee into the red head's gut causing him to let out a grunt of pain. This pleased the dark Tsukune a lot; he was causing this person to regret ever messing with him and his friends. He didn't care if he would have to sleep for a month to get his strength back; he was going to make a point to whoever this person worked for that fucking with him was a _very_ bad idea. The possessed shinigami used the new opening to quickly slice the overpriced jacket to shreds, and make a few more wounds.

Miyabi started to charge a cero in his hand, and saw his opponent do the same. He knew that the two ceros could cause the palace to collapse and leave no one alive. While he had faith that he could still get out through the hole in the wall that his opponent made with a cero not too long ago, he feared that his opponent might be able to get there too. Without taking a second thought, he fired his cero at the black skinned teen; causing said teen to fire his own cero too.

The two ceros collided and an explosion sounded as smoke filled the chamber. The entire palace shook violently as the remaining support beams struggled to handle the stress of the entire foundation being rocked like that. Immediately, Miyabi began to head for the hole in the wall, fearing the collapse that he was positive would follow.

"**Where the fuck do ya think yer goin'?"** he heard next to him.

His eyes looked to the source of the voice and saw that his opponent was keeping up with him; just not easily. The red haired man's eyes widened as he watched Aono vanish and reappear in front of him mid way through throwing a kick. He didn't have time to dodge the attack and took the full power of it on top of his own speed that sent him closer to the attack. Ghoul didn't let up just because his opponent was flying through the air; no, it was an incentive for him to hit his opponent where it hurt. Sure he needed to remove the cross from around his neck to be able to move so fast, but right now he didn't care.

With his once small wings now fully expanded, which had a span of eight feet, he flew up above his opponent and came crashing down on him. As he smashed into the overdressed man, he pinned him to the ground with Tsukune's zanpakuto by putting through the man's stomach just below the diaphragm. He didn't want to kill him just yet; he had something special planned for him. As he withdrew the zanpakuto from the man's stomach, he picked him up and launched him into a wall; his eyes saw the broken white blade, which was in five pieces, on the ground and wondered how a zanpakuto could've been broken so easily. Pushing the question aside, he quickly pierced through his opponent's chest with Bloodriver. Hearing him let out a sharp cry of pain brought an evil grin to his jet black face. Miyabi tried to charge a cero in his hand, but had the arm broken when his opponent saw the red glow beginning to form.

"**Where's the shinigami ya stole that zanpakuto from?"** Ghoul asked in a dark, foreboding tone as he pointed at the shattered blade.

"I didn't steal it from a shinigami;" Miyabi rasped back.

Ghoul could hear the truth through the fear in the man's voice; that made him grin again. Now he could just kill the man without having to search the palace top to bottom for someone that wasn't there; although he was hoping the shinigami would've been there. He does owe her a thank you after all.

"**Good;"** as he held out his index finger and charged a cero on its tip **"now you die."**

Before Miyabi could protest, the small cero shot through his living heart and killed him instantly. Normally one would be furious that they died in such a way, but he was glad. That meant that he was guaranteed to become an Arrancar thanks to the Hogyoku's affects on him. Ghoul removed the blade from the corpse's chest and lazily threw the now soulless body aside. He knew that the dead man could've lied about not taking the white blade from a shinigami, but he hadn't sensed any shinigami in the palace.

Akua watched as the jet black, Hollow-like creature turned towards her. His top was sliced to pieces and barely holding on to his shoulders and that was just because the blood had dried with the material there. She could see white marks on his torso that resembled pictorials and abs, all of them had blood running down them; she also noticed red marks that resembled cracks leaving his eyes, at first glance she thought it was blood. Then there were those massive, demonic, bat-like wings that were clearly visible; they made him look even more menacing because of their look, but it only made him look better. His hands had clawed fingers that looked sharp enough to cut through just about anything. His ankle length hair was splattered with blood; she could smell it coming from his entire body, but his hair held a surprising amount.

All together, she thought his current look was hot and if it weren't for the fact that her sister wanted him she'd be going after him; especially after the fight she had just witnessed. If she had to pick one thing to change about the demonic looking boy, it would be the eyes; she'd change them from the creepy yellow that seemed to be trying to torture whoever they were directed at to a vampiric red that looked like they'd kill instantly. A vampiric red would fit him better than the yellow; especially after what she had just witnessed. He fought viciously and refused to hold back; maybe he didn't because the fight was personal, but regardless he was a vicious fighter.

As her eyes continued to examine the battle ready body she noticed something missing; the usual Hollow hole. It wasn't anywhere on his torso and his pants sat low enough to where she could tell they weren't covering it up. Aono truly wasn't a Hollow or a shinigami; that must have been how he was able to pass through the barrier without getting extremely weakened or killed. He must have been altered somehow. Even with that, it was very tempting for her to offer herself to him; watching him fight and the smell of all the blood, topped with his looks, had gotten her really excited.

Ghoul reached down, picked up the cross necklace that hide his reiatsu and put it back on. As he slid it over his head, he felt all his hair being pushed against his neck; an annoyed growl escaped him as he pulled his hair from under the thin chain. He didn't understand how some women dealt with their hair being this long; it annoyed the shit out of him. The entire time during his fight he had to limit certain movements to keep the hair from falling into his face. When he turned to look at the vampire that had been killed, pain shot through his entire body as he coughed up blood. Fear began to find him as he wondered what the hell was happening to him.

"You…" Akua said with disbelief at what she was seeing "were Charmed… throughout your entire fight…"

"**Just what the fuck does that mean?"** Ghoul demanded to know as he held where he was stabbed through the stomach and winced in pain.

Every muscle in his body ached, every wound on his skin burned and stung, and he could feel his legs starting to give out. He quickly used the blade in his hands to support himself as he glared angrily at the vampire.

"Every injury you obtained when you fought Miyabi-dono was being flooded with power;" Akua explained "that allowed the pain to become almost none existent until you put that necklace back on. Your body must have gotten used to the level of power you had when the necklace was off, and when you put it back on, the sudden drawback of power must have doubled the recoil you normally would have felt."

Ghoul swore loudly as he held the injury in his chest. Now he had a vampire's ability; that was just great, he was slowly becoming the thing he hated. His gaze returned to the vampire that had informed him about his new ability; she was still hanging on to the world of the living. That was bad, if she continued to linger as she was she could become a Hollow and her first target would be the person he was going to kill; he was not going to let that happen!

"**Come here vampire;"** he ordered in a disgusted tone **"time for you to move the fuck on"** as he summoned all the strength he could in his legs to hold himself up.

He supported himself as he held the zanpakuto in his hand so he had the dull side of the blade against his shoulder with the butt of the hilt exposed to the vampire. Akua only looked at the blackened figure with confusion.

"Why are you willing to Konso on a species you hate?"

"'**Cuz that was the fuckin' deal I made with my idiotic other half;"** Ghoul spat at her **"I behave while he pushes through this place, and I get to kill one person; the only other catch was that I had to Konso any other souls. I could always just devour you right now;"** with a hungry grin.

That phrase made Akua's heart freeze; she had her fair share of being threatened by Hollows, but none of them were able to do any real damage to her. But something about the dark, hungry, and serious tone in how the possessed Tsukune said that put an alien fear in her; maybe it was because of the glutinous grin on his face, or the how his piercing yellow eyes were ripping her apart, or perhaps it was because she could practically see his mouth start to water.

"Could you please do me one favor?" she asked as she looked to the ground and then over to her once living body "there is a necklace on my body. It was a gift from Moka-chan; please return it to her when you tell her how I was killed, otherwise she won't believe I am dead."

"**Yer askin' the wrong person;"** Ghoul growled at her **"I have no desire to be near that bitch except to kill her. But,"** catching Akua's attention **"I would love to see the look on her face knowing that a family member was killed;"** with a dark chuckle **"such a close family, so easily separated. Fine, I'll do this favor of yours; but only 'cuz I'll get a kick out of it. Now pass the fuck on;"** as he poked Akua's head with the butt of the zanpakuto in his hand.

Warm; that's what Akua felt as she saw the hilt get taken away from her forehead with the butt glowing blue. The warmth made her feel safe and at peace with everything; she felt herself being lowered through the floor as a seal made itself known to her. She wasn't going to hell, like she had expected too, for some reason; regardless of that reason, she was happy.

When Akua finally vanished and was on her trip to the Soul Society, Ghoul looked over to the vampire's corpse. He saw the thin chain that he was sure belonged to the necklace the deceased woman had mentioned. Using what strength he could, he lifted the head up and pulled the jewelry from around her neck; it was a simple onyx pendant held by white gold, which was the same material as the chain. As he secured the item on the sash around his waist, he noticed that the eyes on the corpse were still open. For some reason, he found himself kneeling down and carefully using his clawed fingers to close the eyelids. Maybe it was because he found some respect for the one he just Konso and believed that he should show that small respect; or maybe it was because he could feel Tsukune starting to wake back up and slowly taking control again.

As he stood up, he heard one of his massive wings begin to crack and then fall to the ground. The sound of a vase shattering against the ground rang through the horribly damaged chamber as the wing became small pieces that littered the ground. Pain shot through his body as the second wing began to crumble as well; the slash across his back might not have been that deep, but it was close enough to the second wing to be made deeper as the appendage fell to the ground. Using the zanpakuto in his hands to support him, he made his way to the set of doors Akua had pointed out to Tsukune before she was killed; he came here with a purpose and was going to fulfill it. Before he even got half way to the doors, they were busted open by five Fairy Tale agents; all of whom started to rush towards him.

"**SO YOU FUCKERS WANT SOME TOO!"** Ghoul shouted at them as he held the zanpakuto in his hands in an aggressive manner.

Before any of them got remotely close to him, they froze in place as Soifon appeared in front of Ghoul facing him; he noticed she had her Shikai released. The five Fairy Tale agents suddenly had what resembled a butterfly tattoo appear on their chests just before erupting into that same mark that hung in the air. Soifon caught Ghoul as his legs started to give out and more of his black skin broke off.

"You're too injured to continue fighting;" Soifon warned him.

"**I…"** he panted **"don't care. We came here to save them;"** as he tried to support himself and go closer to the door **"so that's what I'm gonna do."**

Just as he got around his taichou, she grabbed his arm and whipped him around to look him in the eyes. She could see the determination they held; they were the same as when Tsukune dropped out of the Academy to come to the village. Ghoul really was more like Tsukune than she originally thought; while he was a lot like Jagerjaquez when it came to mannerisms and attitude, he was also like Tsukune when it came to protecting someone. Ghoul could see the concern in his taichou's eyes; she really cared about him and it was easy to see for him. Even after what she had probably just witnessed, Tsukune willingly giving him control to kill someone, she still cared about him. Now he had to do what Tsukune wouldn't.

"'**Cuz Tsukune's too much of a pussy to do this himself;"** as he grabbed the back of Soifon's head.

Before the petite taichou could protest, Ghoul had smashed his lips against hers with bruising force. Her breathe hitched as she felt the raw hunger behind the kiss as he held it for what seemed to be forever; not that she was complaining. While it was completely unexpected, she had wanted to do this with the chocolate haired boy for a while. The boy might be strange, but he was also caring and always addressed her how she told him too; which made her wonder if he wanted to address her without the suffix. With how close she felt to the teen, she believed she could allow him to call her something other than taichou. After a few seconds, the kiss became tender as she started to return the gesture. Sure she felt weird to be kissing Ghoul, but he had said that Tsukune wanted to do this too; she was imagining Tsukune anyway.

"Wow…" was all the taichou could say when Ghoul finally broke the kiss.

Her insides were fluttering as she felt a smile grow on her lips. She had never felt so good after anything, except when Yoruichi held her.

"'**Til next time;"** Ghoul said with a slight smirk as his eyes closed.

When his eyes finally closed completely, the last of his blackened skin fell to the ground and shattered; she caught Tsukune as his legs gave out and he fell into her, unconcerned about the blood that was getting rubbed onto her taichou haori. She pulled him close so she could hold his heavier body easier; uncaring about the blood that was getting wiped onto her taichou haori. She carefully laid him on the ground and did what she could to conceal the X shape scar on his chest; while it really didn't matter if his friends found out he was back anymore, she was sure he wanted to wait and tell them for himself. She knew that he had been extremely stressed with having to lie to them about who he was, but he managed to keep that stress under control; she just hoped it wasn't in the same way that his Arrancar mentor did.

She looked to the door that Ghoul had been heading towards and knew why he was going that way; it was where his friends were. While her mission was to bring Tsukune back to Yokai Academy so he could be escorted back to the Seireitei, she knew that he wouldn't forgive her if she just left his friends. But she couldn't just leave Tsukune here where anyone could come up and kill him while he was in such a vulnerable state. If she carried him with her, it would hinder her if she had to fight someone; not to mention that if she had to set him down he could become the target.

The sound of someone panicking as they ran through the halls could be heard. When she looked further down the hall, she saw someone running with a look of fear in their eyes. On pure instinct, she readied herself so she could fight in case this person tried to attack her or Tsukune. When she saw that the person continued to run at her, she vanished with a swish of shunpo and knocked him out with one hit to the head. It was only after that that she noticed the two students Tsukune had come here to save heading down the hall; both of them in their true forms.

"At least that makes this easier;" she mumbled to herself as she went back to Tsukune and started to heal the few wound that were still on him.

She had finished healing Tsukune and had used her taichou haori to cover him up just as Mizore and Kurumu got near her. When she turned around she could see the look on their faces; both of them were completely surprised at the amount of damage that had been done. They had heard the guards start to leave their post in a panic; saying something about the paycheck not being worth having to fight a one man army that had already gotten past the assassin they hired. The few that refused to leave had to try to get the yuki-ona and succubus back into the room when they started to make their escape.

"Look at what that _thing_ did to my palace!" the Priestess shouted in anger as she entered the chamber "it even destroyed our founding priestess' weapon. That was a sacred item to our people;" glaring at the unconscious boy.

Soifon looked at the angered yuki-ona and knew that getting out of the village wasn't going to be as easy as she had originally hoped.

"This rogue shinigami came here to rescue his friends;" Soifon explained "I was ordered to hunt him down and take him back to the Seireitei for his trial" she half lied "now that I have apprehended him, I will complete my assignment."

"That _thing_ is no shinigami;" the Priestess said back "you, a taichou of the Gotei Thirteen, should know that. Just feel the youki in the air; it is more Hollow than shinigami. You should kill it NOW!"

"My orders were to apprehend him; since he is unconscious and not resisting, killing him would be in cold blood."

"Then get out of my palace;" she said as she turned her back to the taichou and left the chamber.

Soifon collected Tsukune's zanpakuto, picked him up in her arms bridal style, and carried him out of the palace with Mizore and Kurumu following. She just knew that things were going to get far worse at Yokai Academy now.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Soifon had placed Tsukune in the front seat of the bus and made sure to keep the yuki-ona and succubus a slight distance away to keep them from seeing the scar on his chest. Since she wanted to wait for Tsukune to tell them his identity, she had to make sure they didn't see the thing that could easily reveal who he is. It was bad enough that the one yuki-ona had exposed the fact that Tsukune was a shinigami; that was going to make it hard for him to explain himself to his friends if they ask him about it. She looked back at the two girls, actually hoping they would ask her something that would take her mind off worrying about Tsukune; the silence was killing her.

"You two seemed to handle being kidnapped well;" she said.

"I handled it fine;" Mizore replied back "Kurumu" pointing at her friend "not so much…"

When Soifon listened closely, she could finally hear the succubus muttering to herself.

"I'm friends with a princess…" the succubus repeated to herself.

"I'm not a princess;" the yuki-ona pointed out with a slightly annoyed look on her face.


	29. Chapter 29

I was going to wait until I had a few more chapters done before posting this, but with fanfiction cracking down I wanted to let my readers know that if this story gets taken down I'll start an account on their adult version and post it there.

On with the story,  
Demon

xxxxxx

Tsukune sat leaning against the base of the Monster Tree in his mindscape. He couldn't remember much after he gave Ghoul control of his body, but he knew that the overdressed man had been killed. Normally he would be troubled by that thought, but it didn't. Did that make him like his ghoulish nature; not feeling guilty about ending a life? It's not like the man was a Hollow where he would just be cleansed and sent to the Soul Society or an Arrancar where that same chance still existed. This was a living person that hadn't faced his first death yet; but he didn't feel any guilt about letting Ghoul kill someone.

"**Finally seeing that yer more like me than ya think?"** Ghoul said to him in a tired tone.

The dark side of Tsukune enjoyed killing the son of a bitch that had organized the kidnapping that resulted in a lot of people needing medical treatment; not that he cared about that last part. The thought of his mentor kicking the bucket before he had a chance to fight the panther pissed him off; had the panther Arrancar died he would've focused solely on the one that killed him. He could easily smack that silver haired bitch around, brought down that rabbit Arrancar, and now killed someone that was stronger than both of those two. It was going to be a while before he could take on whoever nearly killed his Arrancar mentor. Baby steps might take forever, but he knew they were necessary. Even more so since he knew that Grimmjow had ripped Kurosaki a new one twice and lost their third fight. If he wanted to be able to take on the one that nearly killed his mentor, then he'd have to first gain full control over his shared body and then get a lot stronger.

For now he had to settle for reminding Tsukune that he wasn't the first one in control of their body when they died. Small hints was all he could give Tsukune, but it was better that way. Rather than just spout "You were once a cold blooded killer just like me" he had to slowly break Tsukune's will to resist that truth. He had to play by Bloodriver's rules; which worked out perfectly for him.

"You're more like me than you think;" Tsukune said back.

If his dark nature was going to play this game, then so would he. He knew that Ghoul had referred to Kurumu and Mizore as his friends, something that Hollows never cared to have. Why would Ghoul do that if his darker self wasn't like him? There was no real answer that he could find right off the top of his head. They mirrored each other in many ways, but were opposite in many ways as well.

"**Don't make me laugh;"** Ghoul spat at him **"I'm nothing like you. I don't give a fuck if I kill someone; never have, never will"** with a dark grin on his face.

"Then why did you Konso Moka-chan's sister?"

A small smile found its way onto his face for a split second. His weaker half finally stopped having those feelings for the bitch that caused them so much suffering. That was a good thing; maybe now he'd sac up and tap their taichou's ass instead of trying to figure out a way to rebuild his friendship with the silver haired bitch.

"**I said I would Konso souls I found; so I did,"** he snarled at his human self **"I ain't one of those people that will say one thing and turns around to do the other. I also take responsibility for my actions; unlike a certain whore we know."**

Tsukune tried to get up in anger, only to find that his body was way too sore to move. He didn't like how his dark counterpart addressed his friend; it was bad enough that he was fearful that Ghoul might takeover and try to kill her again, but calling her something so demeaning was uncalled for.

"**We're both too drained to fight; so don't waste yer fuckin' time"** he said with a yawn **"besides, yer such a fuckin' coward and weakling that ya can't do a damn thing on yer own to keep me in line;"** with a snicker **"if it weren't for Bloodriver ya'd be just as weak as ya were when ya were alive."**

-Bloodriver-

The Shinso vampire stood on a window watching clouds pass by as she pondered things. It hurt her to know that her eldest stepdaughter had been killed in cold blood; but at least it wasn't by Ghoul. Tsukune had enough blood on his hands because of his darker self; she wasn't referring to the overdressed man that was a member of Fairy Tale either. She had been keeping more than just Tsukune's past living life from him.

"**So; why are ya here again?"** Hichigo asked with a yawn as he stretched his arms over his head.

It wasn't that he didn't want the company; he had honestly forgotten. He was awake enough to acknowledge she was there, but not enough to remember the reason she said. While Ichigo might be back to the strength he was at when he first fought Grimmjow; he wasn't even close to that. He was barely at the strength he was when he fought Byakuya. This is why he spent a lot of time sleeping; an extreme amount of time; he was starting to enjoy naps.

"Tsukune must face Ghoul without me being present;" she replied "the only way for him to truly gain the courage to do that is for him to understand his true strength. Which is something I cannot show him; he must see it for himself."

"That might be true;" Zangetsu said as he walked up behind his love "but you could have waited until he went to the Visoreds to seek refuge here."

Akasha remained silent; which was enough for Tensa to know what happened.

"He damaged the trust you two have built between each other;" the half breed said.

"Hai;" in a sad tone "he _gave_ Ghoul _full_ control over his body instead of searching deeper within himself for the strength necessary to win his battle. I left his mindscape when he gave Ghoul more control than I originally thought he would."

"**He clearly won since yer still here;"** Hichigo said with another yawn **"so what's the big deal? The age old skill of putting foot to ass is an art; don't go hatin' it."**

"You know nothing of this 'art' as you call it;" Akasha warned "you seek battle for mere thrills. Nothing more than the surge of energy and endorphins that floods one's body during combat. A true battle holds weight, meaning; lives that rest on your victory, that would be lost if you did so. I know that while you may be Ichigo-kun's hollow, you still hold the ability to know emotions other than anger and hate; you still have the potential to express love. Why else would you encourage Ichigo-kun to attempt to pursue a relationship with Orihime-chan?"

Her comment about being able to express love almost made him laugh. What he felt towards the busty woman was pure lust; unadulterated, pornography grade lust, nothing more. The hole in his chest was proof enough that the concept of 'love' held no meaning to him.

"'**Cuz I don't want the idiot to die a fuckin' virgin;"** with a slight snort of annoyance **"I ain't soft like that idiot."**

It was bad enough the idiot had practically ignored the obvious signs that the auburn haired Queen, as he addressed her as, always showed. What made it worse was the fact that he, the dark battle obsessed side of Ichigo, had to point those signs out. It annoyed him that he was the horse still; if he were the king he would've given the busty woman what she wanted. The things he could suggest to Ichigo would probably push the idiot over the edge and kick that non-existent sex drive into motion; he was just too tired to bother at the moment.

Of course there was always the fact that Nel had been showing similar signs as Orihime. Just not turning bright red or stuttering when they talk to each other. It was harder to pick up, but it was still in the way she acted around his king; more open, hugging him until his spine practically breaks, and not afraid to show her, dare he say it, more human side. The woman was an Arrancar, so in essence had regained pieces of her humanity; a very fine looking humanity too.

"It is through weakness that one finds strength;" Zangetsu said "it is because Ichigo knew he was weaker than his opponents that he trained to become stronger. You were one such opponent;" looking at the pale version of Ichigo.

"**I'm touched;"** with a tone that showed he was mocking the old man.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay here;" Akasha said with a soft smile seeing the subject needed to be changed.

"**Whatever; just don't start fuckin' again"** as he drifted off to sleep, causing both Zangetsu and Bloodriver to become beet red.

He knew what the two had done a few weeks ago, and he didn't want to listen to it go on here; especially since he was trying to nap and regain his strength, it could be very distracting.

-Ichigo-

The orange haired teen carefully pulled his arm out from under Orihime; the two were now spending a lot of time together, and they enjoyed it. While there was talk amongst the Arrancar that the two were now having sex, they weren't; they haven't even kissed yet. The main reason for that though is Ichigo didn't want Orihime to be able to associate a good memory with the bad one she's already had here. While it might be good for her to have a pleasant memory in Las Noches, he didn't want to risk messing up and turning what was meant to be a good thing into another bad. As he quietly crept to the bathroom and took off his sleep pants, he remembered something Zangetsu had told him.

'_When you believe you have found the one you wish to be with, do not hesitate to tell her.'_

When he turned on the water so he could shower, he remembered the worried look she had that showed every time he fought someone. During his last fight with Grimmjow, she had erupted into full tears; she was that worried about him. She didn't want to see him take any more injuries; she just wanted him to stop fighting and take her home.

"If only it had been that easy;" he muttered to himself as he let the water soak his hair.

He might have invaded Las Noches to save Orihime, but he also came to fight Grimmjow; to defeat the panther Arrancar and all his allies. If he could have proven that he could defeat everyone in Las Noches, then no one would've attacked his home town. That would've been the only time it was going to be safe to take Orihime back to Karakura Town.

-Orihime-

The auburn haired woman woke up from her peaceful sleep with a smile on her face; she could still smell Ichigo's scent on the sheets. She always knew Ichigo's smell; it was a little musty with, ironically, a hint of strawberries. Ever since she and Ichigo had their private lunch together, they've grown very close and she was getting better about not stuttering around him. She was surprised to learn that Ichigo's will to protect others was a result of the day his mother was killed by a Hollow. That day had left a horrible scar on Ichigo, but he didn't let it hinder him; it drove him to be stronger, and she was thankful that it did.

She got out of the bed as she remembered how many times Ichigo had saved her. There were a few times during school he had protected her from bullies when Tatsuki wasn't around, then there was when they were in the Soul Society, after that was Yammy, and finally when he invaded Las Noches to save her. All that was before the most resent one; when he released his bankai and protected her from the Hollow that fought Aono. It was after that that Tatsuki said her feelings were well placed; even telling her to hurry up and tell him how she felt before Nel made a move of her own.

After she made sure the door was locked, she turned on some music, took off her night gown and headed towards the shower so she could clean up for the day. This had been a habit of hers since she lived alone and didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her; plus Ichigo always had patrol in the morning, so she was confident he wouldn't see her. The cool air gave her a few goose bumps as her feet made contact with the slightly chilled tile floor.

When she opened the bathroom door, she bumped into Ichigo and the two fell to the floor with a load thud. Ichigo grit his teeth as his head hit the tile floor; he wasn't expecting her to be up just yet. He was also hoping to be able to surprise her with breakfast, but that idea just went out the window.

"Owie;" Orihime said as she rubbed her nose.

Whatever she hit was pretty solid. Her eyes widened as she noticed Ichigo underneath her; her hope that Ichigo wouldn't see her pretty much naked had been destroyed now. Little did she realize her long auburn hair was keeping that fact secret; not to mention Ichigo was only wearing a towel. She could feel that his skin was still a little damp from his shower; her heart began to race as she thought of the orange haired teen being in the shower. The thought was making her turn red as she imagined water running down his toned muscles.

"Are you alright, Orihime?" Ichigo asked as he managed to keep from feeling embarrassed about the situation.

That in itself was an achievement considering he was only wearing a towel when he was brought to the ground by the angel on top of him. Angel, that was definitely the best way to describe her; she didn't despise anyone, she didn't dislike anyone, she always managed to have a smile and never held anything against anyone. She also had this feeling around her that often put him at ease; the best way he could describe it was a warm secure feeling.

"H…h…hai;" she stuttered as she put her hands on her face and tried to hide her embarrassment.

The motion only caused her more embarrassment as it caused her breasts to press against Ichigo even more than they already were. Ichigo finally noticed the powerful warmth that was pressing against his torso near the bottom of his ribs and began to turn red himself. They were in a very awkward situation and he had the only towel that was in the bathroom.

"H…h…how sh…should we…;" he stuttered "you know… get… out… of this… situation?"

Orihime couldn't come up with a suggestion, let alone an answer. It wasn't that she was too embarrassed, well that was part of it, but she really didn't know. Her gaze returned to Ichigo and she noticed he was staring at her; this caused her to become a deeper shade of red. It was awkward enough that they were in this position, but with his staring it only got worse. Her blush began to fade when Ichigo tenderly placed his hand on her cheek and captured her gaze with his own. She knew that Ichigo wasn't one that was good at expressing himself with words, but if he was about to do what she was thinking he was going to do; then the day had just become perfect.

Ichigo slowly leaned forward, he sucked at using words; he was a fighter, a man of action, not a scholar. After what felt like an entirety, their lips finally met. He could feel Orihime's breathe hitch in her throat as he held the tender kiss against her. His world seemed to stop as Orihime finally snapped out of her daze and returned the kiss with more aggression than he thought she could ever have. She began to push his head back against the floor as she carefully wormed her way up his torso so she was directly over his lips.

Her breathe hitched again when she felt Ichigo wrap his arm around her bare back; this was something that she had been dreaming of for several years now, and it was finally happening. She was in a state of bliss as the need for air finally kicked in and they broke their kiss. The two teens had a blush on their faces as they couldn't look away from each other. Ichigo gently pulled her closer to his body and wrapped his free arm around the upper part of her back.

"I'm sorry I didn't do more for you in middle school;" he said softly into her ear "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you from everything. I'm sorry I was such an idiot. I'm sorry I never noticed your feelings before; Orihime."

"It's ok, Ichigo" she said back as she rested her head in the crock of his neck.

The two teens completely forgot about trying to get up without exposing themselves to each other and just lay there on the floor; enjoying each other's warmth and embrace.

-Soifon-

The petite taichou looked at the Visored like teen that was her subordinate and bit into her lip as she tried to figure out what needed to be done. Regardless of what she wanted to do, she _had_ to report Tsukune's hollowfication now; he had given Ghoul total control and killed someone. To top that off, she still had to write three reports; one on the attack from the Teresa, one on her assignment to capture Tsukune, and now one on what she knew of Tsukune's Hollow.

She knew she should've started the reports when she returned from the yuki-ona village fourteen hours ago, but she had been too worried about Tsukune. With him being unconscious, she couldn't put him back in his gigai to hide his scar and had to hide his zanpakuto in her room; this meant that she had to stay in the room to keep prying eyes away. The last thing she needed was for their cover to get blown because someone, Akashiya Moka, decided to take a look at 'Eiyu's' chest while he was out cold; it didn't help that the vampire was only a few rooms down from Tsukune's either.

The door behind her slid open and she let out an annoyed groan as she sensed it was Jagerjaquez. This was just one more thing she didn't feel like putting up with at the moment. Every time the Arrancar was around her, she always got a headache from hell and it only went away after she kicked his ass across the room. She nearly jumped when a manila folder was tossed in front of her.

"Figured ya could use less of a headache;" Grimmjow said as his eyes narrowed at her.

His plan was to have the report filled out and to use it as leverage to get the flat chested taichou to tell him what the fuck was going on with Aono. Ever since he started training the brown haired boy, he's noticed a large increase in the boy's reiatsu and abilities; while most of them are Arrancar abilities, a few of them are shinigami. He also noticed how Hollow-like Aono's reiatsu felt at certain points when he was training the teen; he loathed when people kept important shit to themselves, it reminded him of Aizen. Especially when that shit involved everyone around.

Soifon opened the folder and quickly read over the paper. Everything was as it should be for a proper report; which was weird considering who wrote it. The Arrancar had to be looking to gain something out of doing the report for her.

"Why did you write the report when I was the one assigned with that task?" she said as she narrowed her eyes back at him.

"I did it 'cause I figured it would get ya to tell me 'bout Aono's powers. And 'bout how most of his abilities are Arrancar based, not shinigami. I'm willin' to bet he has an inner hollow like Kurosaki."

"He does;" seeing no point in hiding it "at first I thought it was nothing; possibly just the remainders of it. It's not unheard of for one that was once a hollow to still be at risk of turning back into one once slain by a zanpakuto for a week or so. After his hollow took over the third time, while he was fighting the werewolf, I knew it wasn't just the remainders."

"So ya sent Yoruichi to get the Visored brat."

Soifon shot an angry glare at the Arrancar when he failed to address Yoruichi in the proper way. Jagerjaquez was far worse than Kurosaki when it came to addressing superiors.

"Shoulda just let me drag his ass to them;" the panther said as he crossed his arms.

Had the flat chested taichou forced Tsukune to go to the Visoreds, then they probably wouldn't be in this situation. He knew that he'd definitely be able to train Tsukune to use his Arrancar powers better. He remembered how much stronger Ichigo was when he used his hollowfication; if the mask hadn't broken when it did, he would've lost.

"This is something he must do on his own. If he would've been forced to face Ghoul before he wanted to, it could have had disastrous results."

She knew what Jagerjaquez was getting at and understood his reasoning. If Tsukune were able to summon his hollowfication, his own natural abilities would be amplified instead of just adding to them; she had read the report on Kurosaki's hollowfication.

"You, of all people, should be able to see that he ain't the type to just fight. He's a fuckin' pacifist; he's held back in every fight he's been in here. Plus, he's been actin' like a fuckin' coward; hidin' from his problems instead of facin'em. He's been afraid of a lot of things since we got here; he's tried to hide it, but I've noticed it. Keepin' that silver haired bitch at a distance, he's careful with his words around the chicks he's never banged, and his reiatsu is all sorts of fucked up."

As much as it pissed her off, Soifon knew the Arrancar was right. Tsukune's reiatsu hadn't been normal since she found him 'training' with Kurosaki on the execution grounds when he was supposed to be in the academy. She knew that Ghoul had been involved in that 'training' in some way; so it was natural for her to suspect the dark side of Tsukune as the corporate for Tsukune's reiatsu. The teen had also been keeping Akashiya at a bit of a distance from him; most likely because of Ghoul, but to her if the same thing would've been happening to her she would suspect something. Of course, that could just be her training that would have caused her to believe that.

-Bus stop-

A Senkaimon gate opened up and a still pissed Kenpachi stepped out. His usual taichou attire had been swapped out for a set of jeans with his zanpakuto held at his side by a black belt, a black undershirt that had a white skull printed on it, and a long white button up shirt that had a black skull on the back with the Eleventh Division symbol where the eyes would be; Yumichika's suggestion, saying it complemented his large figure or something like that, he wasn't paying attention. He was still wearing his eye patch and was given an extra accessory in the form of a belt buckle that would help keep his reiatsu from being as noticeable. His eye looked around and he quickly found Yachiru's reiatsu. He might suck at sensing reiatsu, but he knew his unofficial daughter's reiatsu from miles away.

"There she is;" he said in a deep tone as he started walking in that direction.

He knew that when Yachiru took a liking to someone she often clung to them; since she had hoped onto Aono's shoulder when he saw her off, that told him she took an extreme liking to him. When that happened, she was practically always around that person. Find Yachiru, find Aono; it was that easy. One thing that annoyed him though was all the muttering he heard about him as he walked across the school grounds, it was as if they've never seen someone his size before. Some of these Yokai have true forms that are far larger than his; and people call him an idiot. He kicked a door open and found himself in what looked like a cafeteria; everyone stopped eating their breakfast and just stared in disbelief at his massive build, a few students dropped their trays to the ground.

"KEN-CHAN!" Yachiru cheered as she jumped from her seat across the room and hopped from table to table until she got on his shoulder "I've missed ya Ken-chan! How's Re-chan been?"

"She's fine;" he said in an irritated tone "where's he at?"

"Chocolate-Hair is in the infirmary;" she pouted "he went and got in another fight without letting me watch."

The tiny fuku-taichou's face swelled up in annoyance. That was the second time he went and got into a fight without taking her with so she could watch. She wanted to watch him fight a strong opponent in a good fight; every fight he's been in so far he had been holding back, she wanted to see him fight all out for once.

Mizore, Kurumu, Yukari, Kokoa, and Gin just stared at the large man as he talked with the girl on his shoulder; he was huge! None of them had ever seen a person anywhere near that tall. Matsumoto gently nudged Gin.

"That's Kenpachi Zaraki;" she whispered to him "he's the unofficial father of Yachiru and taichou of the Eleventh."

Gin's eyes just shook as he continued to stare. This man had a ridiculous amount of youki and it was all being controlled by something on the man; regardless, this wasn't someone he wanted to piss off. Even less so considering what Rangiku had told him about the Soul Society and shinigami. The Eleventh was full of battle obsessed shinigami that relied little on things like kido spells or their zanpakuto; no, they simply used raw brute force.

Kokoa was the first to snap out of her daze and rushed over to the large brute of a man.

"The only one that's gonna fight Kenpachi is me; ya got that!" she shouted at him as she stood on a table to try to look him in the eye, and failed; Kenpachi still towered two feet taller than her.

Yachiru had told her that this man might come by the academy to fight Kenpachi Eiyu for his disappearing act a few days ago. She refused to let someone else fight the person she was going to put the beat down on; she didn't care how big, scary looking, or intimidating he might look.

"Ya need to be a little more specific brat;" Kenpachi warned "I'm Kenpachi from Zaraki."

Kokoa slowly felt her body begin to shake in fear as the man's eye narrowed at her. This large man was terrifying, so much so that the air around him seemed to freeze in place in fear of him. Like it were afraid that moving would somehow piss the man off and lead him to killing it somehow. The small vampire gulped before managing to find the courage to speak again.

"If ya get in my way of fightin' Kenpachi Eiyu," trying to keep her voice from shaking and failing "I'll cut ya down. I've got first dibs on the weakling when he gets outa the infirmary; now get lost."

Zaraki's usual sadistic grin found its way onto his face; he could see the brat in front of him shaking so much that the table was rattling. He quickly grabbed her by her head and lifted her up to eye level. Kokoa's body overflowed with fear now; this man had just picked her up with a single hand and wasn't showing any signs of struggling.

"Ya got some serious guts brat;" with a dark chuckle "so I'll give ya this one warnin'. This doesn't involve ya so stay out of my way, or _you_ will be the one that'll get cut down. Yachiru;" as he dropped the tiny vampire "which way to the infirmary?"

Kokoa landed on her butt with a small grunt of pain, but didn't get up; not that her body would let her. She was petrified with fear. For that brief moment she looked into the man's eye, she felt a fear that she had never felt before; it was like someone had driven an ice cold sword straight through her spine and heart which made the concept of hope leave her body completely. As if the only thing that would allow her to move again was the release known as death; that feeling forced her eyes to stay focused on the man that caused it until the doors to the cafeteria swung shut behind him showing that the threat was gone.

-Tsukune-

The chocolate haired teen slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in a white room that smelled of hospital cleaner. That told him right away that he was in the infirmary; a place he had been trying to stay out of. He remembered that every time he had been in the infirmary when he was alive was when he had been knocked out; which left him vulnerable to those that saw him as an enemy or were trying to confirm that he was really Aono Tsukune.

"Eat this;" he heard Grimmjow say as something landed on his lap "Kenpachi's here and the creepy fucker said he's here for ya. So be ready for a fight."

Tsukune looked at what his mentor had thrown him and saw a strange looking ball that had three mouths. The texture of the skin on the fruit looking thing was rough, about like a blend of scaly and sandpaper, and had a reddish tint to the color. He didn't question it though; he was starving and needed the food. As he bit into the weird looking fruit and was taken back a little by the taste; it was bitter, almost blood like, and the odd texture of the skin didn't help as he chewed the fruit. When he swallowed, he was surprised that the tiny bits of the skin didn't try to shred his throat apart; plus the after taste was pretty good, like a sweet drink.

He soon found himself devouring the fruit faster than he had realized he could. Each bite he took caused some of the juice from the Durian he was eating to drip onto the gown he was in and the bed sheets. The red, wine like fluid stained the material instantly and Tsukune didn't seem to notice as he continued to eat the large fruit. It wasn't until he finished the lure like fruit that he finally wiped the juice from his mouth and noticed the stains on his clothes and bed sheets.

"I guess I was hungrier than I thought;" with a sheepish chuckle.

Soifon only shook her head; in that brief moment, he had manners that were worse than her former fuku-taichou. At least it was only for that brief moment though and not a regular thing. Had it been a normal thing for him, she would start to question her attraction to him. While she could easily counter any argument she could come up with, it didn't change the fact that she was still _strongly _debating on actually perusing a relationship with her pupil.

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed when he saw that Aono had eaten the entire fruit. When he asked Shizuka about it, she told him that only Yokai and Hollows could stomach the fruit; a human eating it would result in extreme indigestion, or worse, and possibly the same effect if a shinigami were to eat the fruit. There was more going on with his Fraccion than he originally thought. Before anything else could be said, the door was kicked down and a very pissed Kenpachi stood where it once was.

"You and I," as he grabbed Tsukune by the neck "have a few things to talk about."

With that, he carried the brown haired boy down the hall and out of the building; completely ignoring the doctors that were trying to stop him.

"I'll go make sure Zaraki-taichou doesn't kill him;" Soifon said as she left the room "contact Kurosaki and inform him that his presence will be required here for a few days since we're not at the optimal performance level."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

"ICHIGO" Nel shouted with joy as she ran through the halls of her home looking for the Visored.

She didn't consider him a shinigami at all, nor did she accept the fact that he was human. No, he was a Visored, a shinigami that had gained the powers of a Hollow; her photonegative.

"ICHIGO!"

"Will you keep it down bazooka tits?" Loly yelled as she opened her door "it's too damn early for you to be yelling like this."

"Sorry;" Nel said with a sheepish laugh "we just got an advanced copy of the next few chapters because the author has felt bad about not giving us a lot of screen time and Ichigo has the most so he should read it so he's ready."

Loly quickly grabbed the copy from the former Teresa and started reading it. After a few minutes she quickly started just thumbing through the pages trying to find something.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" she shouted in anger "I DON'T GET ANY SCREEN TIME IN THE NEXT THREE CHAPTERS!" as she threw the booklet on the ground and stormed back into her room.


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry this took so long. I had issues capturing the emotion at the end. The next chapter might take a little longer since I'll need to come up with a fighting style for Ghoul since I'll be revealing a decent amount about him then. Till then;

Demon

xxxxx

Grimmjow waited patiently for Nel to get back from retrieving Ichigo. When he first turned on the television in Yachiru's room and called her, she freaked out a bit at his condition; which was normal for her when he was wrapped in bandages from neck to toe. After he explained everything, Nel seemed to be saddened by the fact that Harribel was still aligning herself with Aizen. The two were friends back before Nel was defeated by Nnoirta and literally thrown from the top of Las Noches; they had similar ideals and often used logic to explain that as Arrancar they needed a reason to fight. Ironically, they both preferred to fight to protect their Fraccion; which was how Nnoirta picked fights with both of them.

"He's coming;" Nel said with a slight blush, other than the mark on her cheek, when she stepped back into view.

The panther raised an eyebrow when he saw this. Nel normally didn't blush unless she saw someone pretty much naked…

"Did he just get out of the shower or somethin'?"

"He looked completely dry" as she nervously twirled her thumbs around each other.

Grimmjow just grinned perversely and viciously when he connected the dots. This was priceless; the only thing that could've made it better was if she had just drug his ass to the television as he was instead of letting the shinigami get dressed.

"So," with a chuckle "he's finally fuckin' that woman; huh?"

"WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYONE THINK I'M HAVING SEX WITH ORIHIME?" Ichigo's voice rang out.

The orange haired teen was really sick of people assuming he'd do that when him and Orihime only _just_ had their first kiss.

"With that attitude yer gonna die a virgin;" the panther stated bluntly.

At the rate the Visored was going, that wouldn't surprise him at all. He had seen how several female shinigami ogled at him, practically raped him with their eyes, and yet he didn't take notice at all. At least Aono was closing in on getting him some action; which would be funny as hell to see his reaction when the panther called him out on it. As long as it wasn't that flat chested taichou, and if it was, at least not for another three weeks.

"You're worse than my damn hollow;" Ichigo mumbled "why'd you call? Don't you have patrol to do or class to teach or something to be doing?"

"It's still early dumbass;" Grimmjow spat back "and we might need ya to cover for Aono and flat chest."

Ichigo's eyes suddenly went a little wide as he had a feeling about why he might be needed. Why did Tsukune wait so long before deciding to go to them for help? Maybe he should have told Tsukune more about the Visoreds after that night on the execution grounds and encouraged the brown haired teen to go to them.

"When will I need to be there?"

"Ya aren't curious 'bout why?" as his eyes narrowed.

"Tsukune's going to the Visoreds; right?" the teen asked.

Nel's gaze locked onto Ichigo in shock. The boy she had rushed to the Fourth Division when she was trying to get Grimmjow into the Eleventh had a Hollow like Ichigo? While that might explain why the boy could use Arrancar abilities, it didn't explain why she couldn't feel it in his reiatsu. Even Ichigo's reiatsu had a slight hollow like feel to it; a very small amount but it was there just as her reiatsu had that slight shinigami feel to it.

"Why is it that everyone seems ta fuckin' know about that but I'm just findin' out?" Grimmjow growled.

"It's not something that's easy to handle;" Ichigo said "even having a small hint of a hollow is hard to accept for a shinigami. It's even harder to accept when that Hollow nature can take over whenever it feels like trying. Imagine if you were to suddenly have a strong shinigami nature awaken in you and try to take over; do you understand now?"

Grimmjow only growled again; he knew his rival was right. Being an Arrancar already meant that he had taken a _very_ small acceptance of a shinigami nature within him. If that nature were to grow and possess him and turn him into a goodie-two-shoe shinigami; the thought made him want to puke.

"Yea," the panther snorted "that thought does make me sick to my stomach. Ya will need to be here by the end of the day."

-Tsukune-

The brown haired teen hit the ground with a grunt of pain as Zaraki dropped him. The large taichou had carried him to the underground canyon that the group usually used to train. The sound of a blade being unsheathed filled him with fear as he hesitantly looked towards the source of the noise; only to see Zaraki had in fact drawn his zanpakuto. He barely rolled out of the path of the angered taichou's blade and started to put as much distance as he could between them.

"Running like a rabbit won't save you Aono" Kenpachi yelled as he chased after the boy.

Tsukune knew that the large taichou was right; he was in no condition to run for long, let alone fight even a seated officer, and not even wanting to tempt an early death by facing a taichou. That thought seemed even less inviting considering that it was Zaraki Kenpachi, the only one more battle crazed than Grimmjow, who he'd be fighting. His only option was to run like hell and hope to stay out of range of the large taichou's blade.

The teen sonido out of the path of another swing and thought he had put half the training ground between him and his enemy, only to find his opponent was just as fast, if not faster than, him. He barely rolled out of the path of the enraged taichou's blade and started to put more distance between them. This was getting him nowhere and he knew it; the only way he would stand any sort of chance was if he took the offensive. Instinctively he reached to draw his zanpakuto, only to find it wasn't on his waist; he was unarmed.

He jumped to a higher point and fired a Shakkaho at his first mentor. The only thing he could hope to do without Akasha was slow the large shinigami down and pray that help would come soon. Unfortunately, the kido spell he fired only seemed to piss off Zaraki even more as he emerged from the smoke without so much as a small burn. With a burst of sonido he relocated himself on the side closest to the exit and was making as much of a break for it as he could.

Before he could get close enough to see the stairs, Zaraki cut him off and brought his blade down in an attempt to cleave the brown haired teen in two. The only thing that saved him was a small pink blur and a burst of shunpo from Soifon. Yachiru had jumped on her friend and pushed him out of the way of her father's zanpakuto, and Soifon had been midway through her own rescue attempt when she did that. The trio was now sprawled out on the ground, Yachiru a few feet away from Soifon whom was lying on top of Tsukune.

The two blushed slightly as they looked away from each other in an attempt to keep things from getting awkward. It would've still been awkward if Tsukune hadn't looked towards Zaraki and saw the large taichou was charging towards them ready to bring his sword down. Tsukune quickly wrapped his arms around his taichou and used a burst of sonido to put distance between him and the taichou of the Eleventh Division. He reappeared at the highest point in the canyon holding Soifon close to his body as a large dust cloud was thrown into the air curtsey of Zaraki's blade smashing into the ground.

Soifon's eyes were wide as she realized that Tsukune had just moved the fastest she had ever seen him move. His chest was heaving to get air before his body caught up to moving that fast; she could hear his heart pounding in his chest completely out of rhythm with his breathing. She questioned if he could see at the moment because he wasn't moving at all.

"Soifon-san;" Tsukune said snapping her out of her daze "I… I need my zanpakuto."

If it weren't for her fighting the blush on her face she would've said something about him not addressing her as taichou. As she was set down, she noticed the uncertainty in his eyes; this wasn't something he wanted to do, but the battle crazed taichou wasn't giving him a choice. She went to hand him his zanpakuto only to discover he didn't take the scabbard; instead he just drew the blade and jumped down from their position. His resolve wasn't strong; he was going to lose, that much was certain.

Tsukune landed on his feet and watched Zaraki stop his charge; there was still untold rage showing in his eyes.

"Finally done runnin' huh?" the large taichou asked.

Tsukune didn't reply; instead he just held his blade shakily. He wasn't sure why Zaraki was here at Yokai Academy, and he sure as hell didn't know why the large taichou was attacking him. The only thing he knew was that he didn't stand a chance; Zaraki's reiatsu might have been reduced because of the limiter on him, but his killer intent wasn't. The air felt thick with it; bearing down on him like a predator mid pounce on its prey.

"Since ya ain't talkin';" as he brought his zanpakuto up "we'll just get ta fightin'" as he brought his blade down.

The brown haired boy sonido out of the path of the blade and retaliated by attempting to cut through the larger man's back; only to have the blade stop against his skin. His eyes widened as he felt pain shoot through his hands and up his arms; it was just like his zanpakuto sensei had said, the one with weaker reiatsu has their attack neutralized. The next thing he knew, Zaraki grabbed his blade and threw him into a boulder; before he could recover, the large taichou was bringing his own zanpakuto down. Tsukune barely had time to bring his zanpakuto up to try to block; only to have Zaraki's zanpakuto slice cleanly through his and down his torso.

Blood sprayed from the new wound as the tip of his opponent's blade carved through his flesh and half his zanpakuto buried itself in the dirt beside him. The crimson liquid didn't just roll down his torso, it poured down as he fell to his knees. He could feel his life leaving his body from this single wound. As he fell to the ground he felt regret for not telling his taichou how he felt about her; she had saved him multiple times and he never truly thanked her.

'_How stupid can I be?'_ he asked himself as he fell to the ground.

"I guess ya ain't strong enough to protect Yachiru after all;" Kenpachi spat as he walked away from the bleeding Tsukune, uncaring if he bled to death.

Tsukune gasped for air as he heard Yachiru crying and practically arguing with her adoptive father. The last thing he heard was the sound of a shunpo next to him as black fingers became visible in his vision.

"I'm done arguin' with ya Yachiru;" Kenpachi said "yer coming back to the Seireitei with me and that's that."

"But…"

"I said yer returnin' to the Seireitei;" as he held out his zanpakuto to open the gate.

Before he could begin to push his blade into the air, he was blindsided with a powerful punch that sent him crashing into a boulder. Both Soifon and Yachiru had wide eyes as they saw Tsukune land on his feet and grab his hand. Neither of them thought he would be getting back up after taking that injury; neither did Kenpachi, which was clear as he pulled himself out of the boulder with a sadistic grin on his face.

"**Fuck that hurt;"** Ghoul said as he popped a knuckle back into place.

Soifon froze in shock at what she just heard; it wasn't Tsukune that spoke. This was going to go badly if she couldn't think of a way to bring Tsukune back. Yachiru only watched as a mask fragment began to take shape on the top of the chocolate haired teen's head. The possessed teen had a blood thirsty smile on his face as he popped his neck and took a fighting stance.

"**Let's see what you can do Kenpachi!"** just before he charged at the large taichou.

-Fuhai-

The small elderly man narrowed his eyes as he looked at the hidden door to the training ground from their corner. While the barrier he had put up was keeping all the reiatsu in the tavern, he could feel the dark hollow-like reiatsu that was coming from Tsukune. The boy had lost control of the evil within himself and he was ready to go in and do what needed to be done if the taichou didn't soon. If the boy didn't learn how to control the darkness within him, then he would surely become the next Alucard and attempt to destroy the world; that was something he didn't want to see attempted again. He had lost too much on that day; everyone did.

-Kuyo-

The Kitsune stood in his training room with his sparring partner as he watched his opponent breath heavily and collapse to the ground. He had been training against his opponent everyday for the past week. While he himself hadn't made any noticeable progress as far as getting stronger went, his opponent had been getting better; it wasn't enough though. The one in front of him had to be as strong as him if he expected to pull this plan off.

"Kuyo-sama;" he heard from the door.

"What?" he snarled at her.

"Kenpachi is said to be out of the infirmary and there's someone wishing to have a video chat with you."

"We'll continue when I return;" he said to his opponent as he walked to the exit.

His opponent nodded before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as Kuyo left the room. The leader of the Safety Committee quickly walked to the video conference room and closed the door. The screen flickered to life as the Kitsune turned around; he saw a figure wearing a mask that resembled a Hollow's on the screen. It had five eyes and a large, creepy, almost Joker like smile on it.

"**I thought you said you had Aono under control;"** the figure said in a clearly pissed off tone.

"I do;" the Kitsune defended himself "he's under the alias Kenpachi Eiyu but I know it's him. I've been keeping tabs on him; he knows nothing."

"**Were that true,"** the figure said **"I wouldn't need to call you. Fujisaki was killed by Aono yesterday; would you call that having him under control?"**

"Being dead would imply that I'm unable to do anything to help the plan progress;" Kuyo heard from off screen "I would say it's more like…" as he stepped into view "I've been freed from my mortal limitations" as a grin grew on his face.

Kuyo's eyes shook when he saw Fujisaki; he looked the same, but had changed drastically. He had a hole where his heart would be and a mask fragment that resembled a necklace that had a batwing shaped pendant. His wardrobe had also changed; instead of wearing that overpriced suit like he normally does, he was wearing an Espada outfit that was similar to Ulquiorra's but was in the process of personalizing it, and he had a katana shaped zanpakuto with a black hilt at his side.

-Underground training area-

Ghoul skid to a halt as he compressed spirit particles on his finger tips to grip the air with. His breathing was heavy, bleeding extensively, and enjoying every second of the fight he was in. At first, Soifon had tried to interfere with their fight but Kenpachi had told her to stay out of it because this was his fight. The large taichou had told him to pick up his zanpakuto because he wasn't going to fight someone without a weapon, only to have him laugh at the taichou and tell him that just because he was Tsukune's dark nature didn't mean that they shared a zanpakuto.

It hadn't even been two minutes since he started fighting the Kenpachi, and he was already bleeding badly; six wounds that were fairly deep tended to do that. The only thing he had been able to do was throw the large taichou is throw him, hit him with a kido spell, and punch him three times; he himself was already on the verge of passing out. It wasn't the pain from the wounds he had received that was pushing him to that point, no; it was the vast amount of blood that was flowing from the wounds that he couldn't get to stop no matter how much reiatsu he put on them.

"**Is that all ya can do;"** Ghoul asked in a taunt **"swing yer sword around and hope it hits what yer aiming at? You ain't got any true skill other than brute force; taichou or not,"** with a smirk **"yer pretty weak when it comes to actual skill."**

Kenpachi didn't say anything back as he rested his blade on his shoulder. This wasn't the first time someone has tried to taunt him like that; it was a rather desperate act in his eyes. Taunting the enemy and waiting for them to get angry and make a stupid move that'll leave them wide open. While he might not know a lot about fighting without a sword, he could tell that whatever had possessed Aono was pretty skilled at that kind of fighting. That was something that's been bugging him this entire fight.

"Yer a Hollow ain't ya?" Kenpachi asked as he leaned his head to the side and cracked his neck.

Ghoul just growled in annoyance.

"It'd make sense; Ichigo has one and it made him stronger when he put on the mask" the large taichou said "I'm guessin' Aono hadn't gone to those Visored people yet."

"**What is with everyone thinkin' I'm a Hollow;"** he growled **"it started with that group of shinigami several weeks ago. Then my Taichou thought I was one, can't forget about Yoruichi;"** he snickered** "damn she's got a fine body. There was also that blonde brat that looks like the silver haired bitch's little sister. After them, there was that asshole yesterday.**

**I ain't a Hollow, I'm a ghoul;"** he explained **"a Hollow is born from the emptiness within one's soul after they die and that emptiness consumes them. I was born when Tsukune was alive; it was through repeated injections of a certain whore's blood that I grew in strength and became more than a mindless husk. Her blood runs through my veins; just that thought sickens me. I would've had absolute control over Tsukune when we were alive, but that damned exorcist attached a Holy Locket to his wrist that locked me away deep within Tsukune's mind and soul. It wasn't till we died and that accursed item was separated from our body that I was able to have control.**

**The first thing I felt was hunger; I was so fuckin' hungry that I didn't care what I ate as long as I had something to put in my stomach, to devour;"** his tone turned sad **"After I ate a couple dozen Hollows, I began to think 'this isn't satisfying me at all; who can I eat to sate my hunger?'. Then it hit me;"** a dark, sadistic grin covered his face as his tone turned dark again **"I knew who I could devour. I would devour the one responsible for my existence; the one that kept pushing us away; the one whose blood courses through our veins. I was in the middle of trying to find a way back to this place when I was slain and Tsukune regained control; you know the rest of the story"** he chuckled.

Kenpachi looked unfazed by the story, which he was. He didn't give a fuck what had possessed Aono; if it could make the boy stronger, good. Yachiru stood on the boulder she had been standing on to watch the fight and felt a little bad for Chocolate hair's darker side; he had been locked up and couldn't fight or have fun. Fighting was Ken-chan's favorite pastime and it seemed like Chocolate-Hair's darker self enjoyed fighting just as much.

"Enough of yer snivelin';" Kenpachi said in an uncaring tone "we gonna keep fightin' or what? I'm actually findin' this entertainin'."

Ghoul just eyed the man; he hadn't gotten any stronger since he took over Tsukune. That made him wonder why; every time he took over Tsukune before he got stronger as time went on. The mask fragment on his head had fully formed, but he wasn't able to use all his strength; he knew that this didn't have anything to do with the cross around his neck. It was something else, but what? He lunged at the large taichou and had a kido ready to go. Just as he got within range to take a swing, Kenpachi brought his zanpakuto down in an attempt to cleave the possessed teen in two.

The dark nature of Tsukune barely stepped to the side in time to dodge the powerful attack and fired a Shakkaho at the taichou. When it hit, he knew he did damage, or at least singed the man, because he could smell a hint of burning flesh. While many would consider the smell sickening, he didn't mind it at all; it told him that he hit his target and actually did something. Doing a back-flip, he dodged the next swing that Kenpachi took under the cover of the smoke that had been around him. Kenpachi was smarter than he originally gave him credit for; had he not sensed the reiatsu around the blade coming at him he could've been cut in half above the waist.

The taichou was extremely fast for his build and height; that was something he learned early on in their fight. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he grabbed Kenpachi's wrist, kicked his feet out from under him, and threw him through a boulder that had already been damaged. As he watched the rubble collapse on top of the large taichou, he felt a headache coming on; only it wasn't a normal headache. Grabbing his head in slight pain, he could feel Tsukune's reiatsu slowly trying to take control back from him.

This explained why he hadn't been getting stronger throughout the fight; Tsukune had been keeping his power at bay while he fought to regain control. He swore under his breath as he fought against Tsukune's reiatsu and struggled to remain in control. It wasn't working as well as he had hoped; even with him putting all his focus on pushing Tsukune back into the recesses of their mind, he couldn't do it. Swearing again, he tried even harder to force Tsukune back but was getting nowhere; they were on equal ground and they both knew it. Reiatsu spun around Ghoul as he tried even harder to push his weaker half back; Soifon and Yachiru watched as the blacker crimson reiatsu spun around the teen.

Kenpachi emerged from the pile of rubble to see the same sight Soifon and Yachiru were seeing; a dark shade of crimson reiatsu spinning around the teen that was his opponent. He decided to use this to bring a fist down on the mask fragment that seemed to have formed on Aono's head and send him crashing to the ground. While he might have been enjoying the fight, it annoyed him that he was fighting someone that refused to use their blade; there was no real point in continuing the fight. Ghoul gasped in pain as he hit the ground and the mask fragment that had formed crumbled off him. Kenpachi hit hard, but not as hard as Bloodriver; which was a good thing to him, it meant he didn't have to spend time recovering from a concussion.

'_**It still hurt like a bitch though'**_ was his last thought before he blacked out.

Kenpachi looked at the teen that was now his defeated opponent; he was surprised at how much stronger he had gotten in just three weeks. It made him wonder if he'd be stronger than Ichigo soon; that thought would've made him grin if he were in the mood to. Right now his focus was on taking Yachiru back to the Seireitei. He turned to look at his unofficial daughter.

"Time to go; now" he said in a powerful voice.

Yachiru hung her head low as she slowly jumped off the rock; she knew that it was pointless to argue anymore. Nothing could change her father's mind at this point. Her eyes looked at the teen she had been using as transportation for the past week and a half; she saw his hand twitch as his eyes opened slowly. She remembered all the fun she's had with Yuka-chan and Lollipop-lady; she even had fun with Strawberry-chan and the others and she didn't want to leave.

"I wanna stay here though;" she said deciding to give one last protest.

"Ain't happenin';" he replied "Aono's clearly too weak to keep his promise. So yer comin' home."

Tsukune listened as he lied on the ground, barely conscious; Yachiru really wanted to stay at Yokai Academy. He struggled to move his arms underneath him so he could push himself up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the hilt of his zanpakuto; it probably wouldn't do much good since it was broken, but it was better than nothing.

"You really what to stay here; Yachiru-chan?" he asked her as he got on his feet "even knowing what I have inside me?"

"Hai;" with teary eyes.

He grabbed his zanpakuto and centered it on him; taking his stance to continue fighting Zaraki-taichou. It didn't matter to him if he couldn't beat the large taichou, as long as he proved that he was strong enough to protect Yachiru like he said he would.

"Tsk; still gonna try ta fight me with a piece of shit, broken blade?" Zaraki asked.

Tsukune listened to his instincts; lifting the blade up he saw that there was still blood on it. He knew what he was going to do. Bringing the blade down with all his might, he launched a Ketsujin at the taichou. Zaraki's eye widened a bit as the red wave passed next to him only an inch away from his arm. The mix of surprise and a budding re-interest in fighting the boy showed on his face; it was a disturbing grin that seemed twisted and unnatural. That grin only grew when he saw that Aono was no longer holding a broken blade; the blade that was in his hand was blood red and had many teeth along the edges that resembled a saw. The armor pieces on his shins and left arm only added to the look.

"Bloodriver-chan isn't a piece of crap;" Tsukune said as he pointed the blade at the taichou "she's just sitting this fight out."

Zaraki just kept on grinning as he felt Aono's reiatsu increase slightly and his wounds stopped bleeding. The look in the boy's eyes showed he wanted to fight now; he wasn't going to just play the part of a cowardly rabbit trying to escape a hungry lion. No; he was going to play the part of another lion protecting his territory. This next part of the fight was going to be very entertaining.

"Then let's see if yer blade is finally sharp enough to make a cut on me;" Zaraki laugh as he held his blade up.

The large taichou grew tired of them just standing and made the first move; lunging at Aono, he brought his sword down. To his surprise, the teen knocked the blade to the side and flipped up to land a kick on the side of his face. The actual hit didn't bother him at all; if anything it did the opposite, it made his twisted grin grow as he felt blood run down the side of his face. Those armor pieces weren't just for show; they were the real deal, meant to see true battles and inflict injuries on opponents.

Tsukune grit his teeth in annoyance when he saw that his kick had little effect on the large taichou; it didn't help that he now needed to push himself away from the battle loving man before he decided to take the offensive back. Planting his free foot on the taichou's chest, he flipped away from him and continued his assault on the man. He swung fast and made a gash on the larger man's chest; he watched as his blade drink the blood that had covered it and started to heal his wounds.

Kenpachi's grin grew to the point where it looked like it was going to break his face in half as he watched his blood splatter on the ground. This fight was turning into just as much fun as his fight with Ichigo; it had started the same way, so maybe it would end the same way. Bringing his sword down, he was surprised that Aono used his gauntlet covered hand to swat it away, albeit just barely. It was like he was fighting a different person now; every swing he took at Aono was either blocked, or dodged, and retaliated against. He was starting to believe that maybe Aono actually had the strength to keep his promise.

He skid to a halt after Aono punched him in the chest with everything he had; the boy was only getting stronger as the fight went on. On top of that, all of Aono's wounds seemed to be healing as well; it was as if he was meant to be on the battlefield. His grin remained the same as he took another kick to the chest that was followed up by a blast of kido; normally he hated the thought of using those damn spells in a fight, but Aono was using them so perfectly it was only making the fight more enjoyable. The only down side, he could see that Aono was getting worn out. It sucked; right when he was having fun, Aono had to go and get tired. It didn't really matter though; he learned what he needed to know.

"One last attack Aono;" Kenpachi said as he held his blade at his side "put everythin' ya have into it, or yer gonna die."

Tsukune tightened his grip on his zanpakuto and focused on putting all his reiatsu in both his attack and Hierro; just in case. His reiatsu became visible around him as he started to charge the taichou; he didn't let the fact that Zaraki's yellow reiatsu was visible shake him. The only thing he could do was trust his instincts and aimed to slice his opponent through the stomach and then fire off a Ketsujin. The point blank impact from it should be enough to knock the Kenpachi out. With a battle cry, he swung Bloodriver with everything he had and as soon as he sliced into Zaraki's gut, he fired a Ketsujin and kicked up enough dust to blind him.

When the dust finally settled, he felt a blade against his neck; his eyes shook when he saw that the blade belonged to Zaraki-taichou. He looked at the cut along the Kenpachi's stomach and saw that he had cut too shallow; this caused the Ketsujin to only be fired away from the intended target. He saw how much damage the Ketsujin did though; it cut several boulders in half all the way across the training ground.

"Do ya know why yer still breathin'?" Kenpachi asked him, he kept silent "'cuz I told ya if ya didn't put everything ya had into that attack I'd kill ya; you put everythin' ya had in that attack, even if it was too shallow. Before ya left ta come here ya promised me ya'd keep Yachiru safe; when I found out ya went AWOL, I felt like ya had just left her for no reason. After seein' ya fight and findin' out ya have something like a Hollow in ya, I accepted what possible reason ya had. I'll let Yachiru stay here, but on one condition."

"Anything;" Tsukune said breathing heavily.

"Take her with ya when ya go to the Visoreds;" he said "you got into two fights without letting her watch; the way I see it, ya owe her a damn good show."

Kenpachi removed his blade from Aono's neck, turned around and opened a Senkaimon; a single black butterfly flew out and Kenpachi walked through the gate. As soon as the gate closed, Tsukune braced himself on Bloodriver as he reverted her back to her completely sealed state; his body was suddenly aching from the fight and it only set his recovery back a few days. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pool that Urahara had put in; before he could was over to it, he was tackled by a teary-eyed Yachiru.

"Thank you Tsuki;" she cried as she buried her head into his chest "thank you."

He didn't say anything as he wrapped his arms around the small child and let her cry on him. The reason he fights might be to protect, but he fought Zaraki-taichou to prove he could protect Yachiru so she could stay here. Apparently that made Yachiru cry tears of happiness; he was glad he proved he was strong enough to protect her.

"How long do we have until class starts?" he asked Soifon when he heard her walking towards him.

"A couple of hours;" she said.

"That should be enough time;" he said as he carefully got up with Yachiru still latched onto him and walked over to the pool.

-End of the day; Moka and Kokoa-

The two vampires waited patiently for the Fraccion to show up. Before gym he said he had something important he wanted to tell her and her sister; when she approached him at lunch about it, he said it would be better to wait till after classes. What irritated her was the orange haired teen named Ichigo that showed up and started talking to Eiyu before she could express how she felt if it was important for her and her sister to know, it was important enough to tell them immediately.

Her eyes traveled to her fully healed leg; that was probably the only good thing that came out of lunch. The girl that was with that Ichigo had an unusual ability to heal others; she reminded her of her former outer self. She was over caring; the girl started worrying about her and her friends when she saw they were injured and then cast a spell of some sort that healed them all at the same time. Orihime, she remembered the girl's name; she seemed to be friends with Eiyu too. The only odd thing about her was that her scent suggested she was human, but with powers like hers, she was probably a witch like Ruby and Yukari; only she put all her studies towards healing magic. The girl seemed to be in some sort of relationship with the orange haired male; that much she could tell by how they walked up to Eiyu holding hands. Of course, Rangiku shouting her statement like she did didn't make it a subtle observation.

"What the hell's with that asshole;" Kokoa snapped "he tells you we need to meet him after class and he's taking his sweet ass time getting here. I should kick his ass when he gets here."

"He saved Kurumu and Mizore yesterday;" Moka said "I can only imagine how many strong enemies he had to fight to do that. Just that group that kidnapped them was powerful;" remembering how she broke her leg against the blonde woman's head "if he saved them, then his strength is well above ours."

Kokoa balled up her fists in annoyance; she hated how she was knocked out with a single hit from that woman that fought the panther demon. She was a vampire, one of the most powerful species of Yokai out there, and she was defeated with a single hit. As much as she hated to admit it, Kenpachi Eiyu was indeed much stronger than them; in just one week, his strength had doubled and something told her it was still growing. If he was going to only get stronger, and their enemies were stronger than them, then she'd do everything she could to match them; no matter what.

"Sorry I'm late;" Eiyu said in a sad tone as he walked up to the two vampires "I thought it would be better to tell you about yesterday after classes, but as I thought about it, I became afraid to tell you. In the end though, I know I'd never be able to forgive myself if I don't tell you; neither would your sister."

Those words stopped their line of thought and made them afraid of what he was going to tell them. Moka was able to hide the worry she felt, but Kokoa wasn't; the smaller vampire was shaking in fear of what that comment meant. She didn't want to hear it; she didn't even want to have it suggested to her.

"When I was on my way to rescue Mizore-chan and Kurumu-chan," he continued "I fought both your sisters; Kahlua and Akua. Kahlua disappeared before Soifon-sensei got there, so I don't know what happened to her; Akua…" he gulped as he fought to say it "wasn't as lucky. When I fought her, she just stopped fighting me and told me where Mizore-chan and Kurumu-chan were; after that, she… she was killed by the one that ordered the kidnapping."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Kokoa shouted at him as she punched him in the chest and tears ran down her face "AKUA-NEE-CHAN IS THE STRONGEST OF US! SHE'D NEVER BE KILLED!"

Moka was speechless; her oldest sister, who she had lost to a great number of times, had been killed. She only watched as Eiyu let Kokoa continue to punch him before pulling her close to him. The regret he held in his eyes, he was truly sorry that it happened; what she couldn't understand though, was why? Why was he sorry that Akua had been killed; it's not like he was the one that killed her.

"I'm sorry;" he said in a soft voice "I wasn't strong enough to stop him from killing Akua-chan. If I could've sensed him before it happened, I could've stopped him. I wasn't strong enough;" as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out "she wanted me to give this to you, Akashiya-chan. She said it was a gift from you and she wanted me to return it to you;" as he held out the necklace for her to take "it was her dying wish that it be returned to you."

Moka finally broke; tears of sadness erupted from her as she fell to her knees and sobbed. How could her sister have been killed; Akua was the strongest of them. It made no sense; what was going on? She'd felt so weak and powerless ever since her fight with the woman that nearly killed everyone yesterday; now with the news of her sister's death, she felt… worthless. For the first time ever, she felt like there was literally _nothing_ she could do to try to stand her ground in whatever battle was going on in the darkness of the shadows. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulder just before she was pulled forward into Eiyu's chest.

"I'm sorry;" he said again "I wasn't strong enough to save her. But I promise you," in a strong tone "I'm not going to let anything like this happen ever again. I'm going to get stronger so I won't make a mistake like that again."

He helped her get back up and just held her as she continued to cry on his chest. While he still couldn't remember everything, he remembered enough to know that she hardly ever showed any emotion; this was something she needed. A shoulder to cry on and not be judged because of this 'moment of weakness' as many would call it.

"Thank you;" she finally hiccupped "thank you for bringing this to me. I'm sorry for crying on you;" as she started to walk away from him.

"If you don't want to just sit on the side of this;" Eiyu said "then you need to get stronger. I used to be weak, but I was sort of thrown into a new world and had to get stronger; so I did. I'm just not strong enough yet. I'm going to find a friend that can help me gain control of the power I have within me; I should be back in a day or so. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help, but I could try to help you get stronger."

Moka turned around and could see that Eiyu was serious. It was in his eyes; he wanted to make amends for something that wasn't his fault by doing whatever he could to help her get stronger. There was also a strength in his eyes; something that wasn't usually there. Sure he had a certain look to them, but the strength was inarguable now; it was almost radiating from him.

"I'd appreciate that;" she said before she picked up her younger sister and walked away.

Tsukune sonido to the bus stop where Soifon and the Bus Driver were waiting for him; they got on the bus and started their trip to Karakura Town. The rising Visored and the taichou sat in silence for a while as they watched the purple haze pass by the bus. After a few minutes, Tsukune broke the silence.

"Could I ask you for a favor; Soifon-taichou?" he asked as he looked at her.


	31. Chapter 31

Tsukune, with Yachiru on his shoulder, and Soifon looked at the large abandoned warehouse; the brown haired boy was glad that the small fuku-taichou had been asleep when he asked Soifon for the favor, he knew that she would protest it. They could feel fuku-taichou and taichou level reiatsu coming from within. Tsukune could feel that something was off about the place, and it wasn't because of the reiatsu he was feeling; it was something else. There was little to no noise in the abandoned area; he would expect this kind of place to have a lot of stray animals or groups of people that hung out here, but no, it was perfectly silent. Soifon looked to the ground and saw a line of ants walking; only not in a straight line. They seemed to trace the edge of a box at one point.

"There's a barrier set up;" Soifon said "it must have been how they stayed hidden for so long. Taichou and fuku-taichou class shinigami normally have a limiter put on when they go to the World of the Living. Since the Visoreds didn't go through any channels to get here, they most likely don't have limiters on; so they set up this barrier to keep it from being detected until you're right on top of it."

"I guess that's why this area is so quiet; one building gave the entire area a bad reputation. How do we break the barrier?" Tsukune asked.

"Hit it with your sword Tsuki!" Yachiru suggested in a lively tone.

As if on cue, the barrier revealed itself and then fell; Yachiru's face swelled up in annoyance. She's wanted to see Tsukune use the attack he used against Ken-chan again; it was pretty in her opinion, although not as pretty as Ichii's Getsuga Tensho. She felt Tsukune start to walk and just watched as the metal garage door opened up for them. Anyone else would've been creeped out, but with everything they've seen this was nothing on the proverbial 'weird-o-meter'; this was probably just enough to get their attention, but not weird them out.

"You must be Aono Tsukune;" they heard from above "I was wondering what was takin' ya so long."

Tsukune looked up to see eight people standing on various levels of ruined floors; he recognized Hiyori, but had no clue who the others were.

"I'm Hirako Shinji;" a long haired blond man introduced himself "these are Aikawa Love, Kuna Mashiro, Muguruma Kensei, Otoribashi Rojuro or Rose, Ushoda Hachigen or Hacchi, Yadomaru Lisa, and you've already met Hiyori."

Hiyori just growled in annoyance; it's been little over a week since she went to bring the brown haired teen to them and he was just now coming to them.

"Why the fuck should we help ya?" Hiyori demanded to know in a pissed tone "yer the one that said ya didn't have time; yet here ya are. Either ya were bull shitin' before, or yer just a fuckin' coward! Neither one would surprise me. I offered to bring ya here and ya refused; makes me wonder what happened. Ya either got yer ass handed to ya like Ichigo did, or" her eyes narrowed on the teen "yer Hollow nearly killed someone; again."

All the Visoreds just waited for an answer from the boy; Hiyori was the one that was sent to bring this Aono kid to them, so she was going to be the one that called the shots on this one. It was only right since Shinji called the shots with Ichigo while they were trying to recruit him. They all noticed the teen ball his fist tightly and clinch his jaw; Hiyori must have hit a nerve, but just how deep did that nerve run?

"What the hell do you know?" Tsukune asked with anger in his voice.

That caught everyone off guard. Soifon had never heard Tsukune curse before and was controlling the urge to stare at him in surprise. If he was cursing, then this had to be serious to him. The Visoreds now knew that the nerve Hiyori hit ran very deep; it must have been personal.

"Ya really think that ya know what it's like having a Hollow?" Hiyori snarled at him "ya lose control two or three times and ya know the ugly side of our abilities? We have to constantly refight our Hollows to keep control of ourselves; I'm surprised Ichigo hasn't come back yet" she admitted in a slightly bored tone.

"You've never had to give control to your Hollow so you could protect someone because you were too weak to beat the person yourself" Tsukune argued back "you don't have to deal with the daily taunts about things you can't remember but can't deny the truth behind them. So until you do know," as his reiatsu flared up "I suggest you shut the hell up!"

Hiyori grabbed the hilt of her zanpakuto and began to draw it while glaring daggers into the brown haired boy. He was really pissing her off; first with that crap about why he couldn't come to them, then the load of crap he tried to tell her when she gave him a second chance, and now this.

"There's no reason to kill him Hiyori;" Shinji said in a cool tone knowing full well what she was going to do.

"Shaddup!" she shouted at him "we let ya do what ya did to Ichigo cuz yer the one that went to recruit him. I'm gonna see just what this prick can do;" her gaze returned to Tsukune "don't think I'm gonna underestimate ya again. Now shed yer gigai and get ready to fight."

"I'm here to fight Ghoul, not you."

"Ya think this is a fuckin' social service club?!" Hiyori asked in anger "ya think that just cuz ya have a Hollow ya can just join? What a fuckin' joke! The only way we'll let ya join is if yer strong enough. Now shed yer gigai and defend yerself!"

Tsukune barely used the Soul Badge and kicked his gigai away, along with Yachiru, before he sonido out of the path of Hiyori's blade; the Visored had noticed that he made changes to his shinigami outfit. Now it was sleeveless and had a more snug fit around his torso. When he turned to see where the blond female Visored was, he saw a blade coming at him to slice into his gut. As he leaned back and dodged the blade, he mentally thanked Soifon for showing him how to stretch properly the week before. He continued to lean back so he could do a back-flip and ended up kicking Hiyori in the chin and knocking her on her butt. Hiyori growled as she got up and rushed towards the teen again. She didn't see that coming, but she knew he was being trained as a member of the Onmitsukido so she continued the fight with slight caution. As she continued her assault, she noticed that Aono was playing defense again.

"Yer playin' defense again?" she asked in annoyance "I told ya last time that won't work. If ya ex_**pect us ta teach ya"**_ as her mask formed on her face _**"then ya better come at me seriously. Now release yer Hollow."**_

"No;" as he grit his teeth and tried to hold his ground against the now stronger Visored.

"_**Ya still don't get it do ya?!"**_ as she blasted him with reiatsu and sent him flying across the warehouse _**"this ain't just to see how strong ya are, it's to see how strong yer Hollow is as well. Now show us yer Hollow!"**_

Tsukune picked himself up off the ground and grabbed the base of his neck; he could feel Ghoul trying to take over. He clinched his jaw tight as the pain slowly increased; he couldn't let Ghoul get control.

"No" as he saw black fingers reaching across his vision.

"**Deal with it;"** Ghoul said as he gained control, stood up and threw Tsukune's zanpakuto away from him **"ya wanted to see me, here I am brat. Now what the fuck do ya want?"**

Everyone just stared at the now possessed teen; his Hollow had just spoken. None of theirs had done that when they were possessed them; Aono's most have an extremely strong will to keep his mind intact. Something still seemed a little off about this; the possession was a little faster than they thought it would've been.

"_**Finally decided to let you have control huh?"**_ Hiyori asked.

"**As if;"** Ghoul said with a tsk **"the coward's been so afraid of what I'm capable of he's always relied on his zanpakuto to keep me in line. I don't have to worry about that now. Now what the fuck do ya want?"**

"_**To fight ya; what else?"**_

"**I ain't gonna waste my strength. Tsukune's the one I need to kill to have control; yer nothin' more than a small fish to me right now. Any other time, I'd be more than willin' to fight ya. Now shut the fuck up and do whatever it is ya need to do so I can finally fight Tsukune for absolute control"** as he flared his reiatsu at everyone.

The Visoreds just narrowed their eyes at the possessed teen; his Hollow was focusing on the big picture rather than just fighting anyone in his path. They were missing something big; the only question was, 'what?'. Hiyori seemed more annoyed than anything else; she had practically been told she wasn't worth the trouble of fighting and nothing pissed her off like that. Hiyori vanished with a sprint of shunpo and went to cleave her opponent in half. When she hit Ghoul, her zanpakuto had little difficulty cutting through his Hierro and went straight through his arm and half way through his chest. Everyone went wide eyed as they watched what had happened; she had actually aimed to kill.

"**Nice try"** she heard behind her as a static like boom happened and the thing she hit slowly vanished.

Before she could do anything, she felt a hand grab her head and slam her into the ground face first; effectively shattering her mask. Ghoul had left an after image, but how was that possible; only a few people could do that. Then it hit her, Soifon had been the one training Aono so she probably taught him how; Ghoul had used a sonido equivalent of Yoruichi's Utsusemi. She closed her eyes and expected a beating to come, but it never did; instead the hand that was on the back of her head was removed.

"**NO!"** Ghoul seemed to shout to no one **"yer takin' to damn long. If this bitch wants to fight, let me fight her!"** as his hand latched onto the mask fragment that had formed on the top right side of Tsukune's head **"you already let me kill that son of a bitch back in the yuki-ona village; what's the big deal if I just fight this brat?!"** as he thrashed around trying to regain control of the hand on the mask **"you take too long to get shit done; let me handle this!"**

A split second later, the hand on the mask began tugging at fragmented mask causing cracks to begin forming. Tsukune let out a cry as he ripped the mask from his head and began panting; he fell to the ground and looked at the shards on the ground.

"That's why I have to beat Ghoul;" Tsukune said in between breaths "he doesn't care if he kills someone. The only reason I gave him control when I was in the yuki-ona village was so I could save my friends. Please; I need to beat him."

Hiyori looked to Shinji and nodded.

"Very well;" Shinji said as he appeared in front of Tsukune and used Tanma Otoshi on him.

The former taichou caught Tsukune before he fell forward and hefted him up.

"Let's get him into the training area;" he said to Hacchi, who opened the hidden trapdoor in the floor.

Soifon quickly grabbed Tsukune's zanpakuto and followed the Visoreds down the stairs behind Yachiru; who was happily skipping down the steps and humming a tune to herself. The petite taichou sheathed Tsukune's zanpakuto after Shinji placed him on the ground; she mentally begged him to win so she wouldn't have to actually do that favor Tsukune asked for. If it led to that; Tsukune had been tearing down the wall she had put up after Yoruichi left, and if he failed to defeat Ghoul she'd probably end up putting up a wall that no one would ever be able to get near ever again.

"If you pin him down with a Gochutekkan it would buy Tsukune extra time" they heard behind them.

"Yoruichi-sama!" Soifon said with joy before seeing a certain hat "Urahara" with a growl.

Hacchi ignored the background noise that had become Soifon yelling at Urahara as he performed the Gochutekkan and watched as the five steel-grey pillars came down on the brown haired boy's shoulders, back and waist; effectively pinning the teen to the ground without breaking anything. As soon as he announced it was done, Soifon stopped her yelling and took a concerned look at Tsukune; she bit into her lip as she waited to see what would happen next.

"And now we back away so Hacchi can add an extra barrier just in case Tsukune can break out of that;" Shinji said as he walked away from the teen on the ground.

The sound of something scrapping against the ground was heard; when everyone looked, they saw Tsukune's fingers clawing at the ground beneath him. All the Visoreds knew that the change was happening even faster than Ichigo's. The twelve shunpo away from the pinned teen and Hacchi quickly put up a Hachigyo Sogai that put Tsukune in the dead center of the barrier covering half the underground training area.

-Tsukune's mindscape-

The brown haired teen opened his eyes and saw Yokai Academy; he quickly grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto, he knew where he was. He spun around trying to locate his opponent; only to find that said person was sitting in the Monster Tree looking bored. Ghoul's face seemed to have a disappointed look on it; like something wasn't right to him.

"**Ya know;"** he said **"I was hopin' I'd be more psyched for our fight. But I've already started to think that this isn't just about doin' what we feel is right;"** as he looked at Tsukune **"I mean yea, I wanna kill that silver haired bitch and you wanna play guard dog and try to keep me at bay. But what's the real end game? Fuck;"** with a snicker **"no matter who wins, we're a part of each other so we'll never truly be gone. Eventually the loser of this fight will reform deep in this place. So;"** as he jumped down from the tree **"we gonna play 'whose king and whose horse' like Kurosaki and his Hollow. Or are ya gonna do what you really came here to do?"** with a large grin.

"I came here to beat you!"

Ghoul busted out laughing; not at the thought that Tsukune believed he could win, but the obvious facts before him.

"**If you were here to simply beat me so you can gain control of yer true power,"** as a larger grin grew on his face **"ya would've struck me down the moment ya saw I was disarmed. No; the real reason yer here isn't to fight me for control,"** before throwing his hand out **"it's to regain yer memories by asking me the right questions!"**

Tsukune sensed something coming towards him at an unusually fast pace and sonido out of the path. When he reappeared he saw Ghoul catch what had flown through the air and his eyes widened.

"How?" was all he could ask.

-Bloodriver-

"It's begun;" the Shinso vampire said softly as she looked to the clouds.

"You can sense it from here?" Zangetsu asked.

"Hai."

-Real World-

Tsukune's body began to lift the five pillars that had him pinned to the ground. A loud grunting could be heard from him as he managed to get to all fours and begin the final struggle to throw the pillars off him. Everyone watched in awe as the possessed teen snapped his body upright and threw the pillars off him. Yellow set in black and filled with undirected rage could be seen in his eyes instead of the gentle brown that was often filled with kindness as the black flame tattoo grew from his neck. Ghoul wasn't in control at the moment, but neither was Tsukune; that much was obvious with how the teen was standing. The stance wasn't like one that Tsukune took, and it didn't match Ghoul's either; Tsukune's was relaxed and Ghoul's was often aggressive. What they were seeing now was a rigid aggression that showed Tsukune's body was acting only on instinct; that instinct was most likely only to protect itself though.

"I'll start;" Hiyori said as she walked to the barrier and it opened up "I'm gonna enjoy this" with a fanged smile as she popped her neck.

'Tsukune' growled at the one that was approaching him with her hand on her hilt; something about her brought a rage in him to the surface. As she drew her zanpakuto, he reached for his; only to have his hand rejected by being shocked. He let out a small howl of pain as he glared at the weapon; his weapon, _his_, just rejected him. He continued to glare at the weapon as he held his hand in an attempt to comfort it.

"What's wrong;" the former shinigami taunted "ain't got a weapon to fight with?!"

A dark grin grew on 'Tsukune's' face as he held out his left hand and a white material began to form in his palm and grow out like a staff. Hiyori's eyes shook as the substance continued to grow and a large double edged scythe formed. The blade of the scythe turned red as the staff section molded itself into what resembled a long spine that had been aged with a strange point on the end that looked almost like a stinger on a scorpion without the large bulge that held the poison. Where the blade met the staff looked to be a cross section that let the blade move to different positions at will.

"Had to open your mouth;" Lisa sighed as the barrier closed back up.

Before Hiyori could snap herself out of her disbelief, 'Tsukune' lunged at her ready to bring the scythe down and slice her clean in half.

-Tsukune's Mindscape-

"**How else?"** Ghoul asked as he lunged at Tsukune **"by undergoing shinigami-fication."**

Tsukune drew his zanpakuto and kept the large scythe from cutting him in half. Unfortunately, Ghoul had caught him off guard and threw him through the forest and into the gym. He coughed as he pushed the rubble off him and readied himself for Ghoul's next attack. Instead of another attack, he saw Ghoul slowly walking towards him with the scythe resting on his shoulder. This was a side of Ghoul he had never seen before; instead of being the bloodthirsty, homicidal manic he thought Ghoul was, he was being unusually civil.

Something told him that Ghoul wasn't taking this fight seriously though. It was like he was waiting for something; the only question was 'what'. Was it till Ghoul started ranting about something; bragged about being the one that killed the guy that kidnapped Mizore and Kurumu; _what_? He could see the bored look in Ghoul's eyes as he shook his head.

"**Starrin' at me ain't gonna get ya yer true power;"** Ghoul said with a sigh **"only beating me will do that. I mean, that is what ya came here to do; right? Of course it ain't; if that were the case ya would've unleashed what you believe to be yer bankai and ended the fight already. Yer here to learn the truth about us; our past lives. Both living and afterlife."**

"Of course I'm here to beat you;" Tsukune replied back "and what do you mean by 'what I believe to be my bankai'?"

"**I'll get to that;"** with a burst of sonido and appeared in front of Tsukune ready to slice him in half.

Ghoul watched as Tsukune vanished and heard him as he reappeared behind him. He snapped his scythe closed and spun around to block Tsukune's zanpakuto. He growled in annoyance as he kicked Tsukune away from him; his more shinigami half wasn't taking him seriously and it was starting to piss him off. This fight was to be all out; a power clash that would leave its mark on the land within their minds through ruined buildings and scarred ground. Up till this point, their lives had been similar to that of an old Renaissance epic; a hero that had fallen from where they stood because of corruption brought on by a woman.

They had even been given a second chance thanks to the small shinigami that slain them almost a month ago; only he didn't care about that second chance. Why would he try to act like something he's not? That vampire made him into a monster by everyone's standards, so he was going to act like one and take revenge by ending her living life; then they could have their true battle. A fight that would be two sided instead of like the last time he faced her; he wanted a fair fight with her.

Tsukune slammed into the wall on the fair side of the gym and gasped as he felt the wall cave around him. Why was Ghoul holding back like this; it wasn't his style. Ghoul was ruthless when he fought; that much he learned when he let his dark nature take control to save his friends. Tsukune realized that Ghoul might have been right by saying that he had come here to learn about his past. It wasn't a real secret that he was tired of the random memory flashes that had no order to them; so hearing about them from start to now would be good. The down side was that Ghoul could lie about things and make it seem like Moka was the one that was wrong. He sonido out of the crater in the wall Ghoul had put him in and took a swing at his darker self. A grin grew on Ghoul's face as he blocked the attack and pushed Tsukune back; sparks filled the air as the two increased their furiosity of their fight. The rubble on the ground began to tremble as the force of the two attacks meeting caused the ground to rumble.

"**Ya wanna know the real bitch of being locked up in yer mind when we were alive?"** Ghoul asked rhetorically as he brought his scythe down and Tsukune blocked it **"I was literally **_**locked**_** away. Chained up in some fuckin' basement with no light, no breeze, no scents, no pleasant sounds; nothing! The only time I felt anythin' was when Kurumu decided to force yer face into her tits. I find it ironic that my zanpakuto is in the same situation I was in only two months ago."**

Tsukune rolled to the side and freed his blade from Ghoul's as he swung to slice into his arm.

"How do you have a zanpakuto?" he asked as Ghoul blocked with the staff "and what did you do to Akasha-chan?"

"**I didn't do a damn thing to that vampire;"** as he kicked his opponent away **"and I told ya. When you went through shinigami-fication, so did I. I was normally Hollow-like; so when you regained control and gained shinigami powers, so did I. Since I was a part of you long before yer shinigami powers were, we don't share a zanpakuto like the Visoreds do with their Hollows."**

-Real World-

The two had been training blows for the entire time they've been fighting. Both were bruised and cut; the top of Tsukune's shinigami uniform was ripped to near shreds and Hiyori's track suit was in dire need of being replaced. The thing that irritated her most was that 'Tsukune' was showing no signs of pain from his injuries; he just kept smiling as he continued to come at her. It was like she was fighting a Kenpachi.

Hiyori managed to dodge the blade of 'Tsukune's' new zanpakuto yet again as she was kept on her toes thanks to the training Tsukune's body had been through prior to seeking the Visoreds out. She watched as the horn from her mask fell to the ground because of the attack she dodged; after seeing how the possessed teen fought when she entered the barrier she knew she'd need it. That power boost had saved her neck a couple times, literally. The ten minute mark was finally approaching and she was a little too worn out at the moment.

She suddenly felt a foot hit the center of her chest and sent her flying backwards. As she flipped over to recover from the hit, she opened her mouth and began to charge a cero. The brown haired boy didn't move from his spot; he only smiled as the black flames spread even further across his face and a mask began to form on his head. She could hear the protests from the others just before she fired the cero at Tsukune; when the reiatsu based attack hit, there were two explosions. Something seemed off to her because of that; when the smoke cleared, she saw what. 'Tsukune' had used the tip of his zanpakuto, by opening it all the way, to split the cero in half leaving him untouched.

"_**What?"**_ she asked herself in disbelief.

'Tsukune' only grinned again as he lowered his blade, held out his right index and middle finger and charged a cero of his own that was indigo. Hiyori didn't have time to try to charge one of her own again before the attack was fired at her. Just before the blue-ish colored cero hit her, a red wall suddenly shot up and saved her from the attack by taking most of the damage.

"That was a close one; huh, Hiyori-san?" Urahara asked with a smile on his face.

Hiyori didn't say anything as she shunpo out of the barrier and left Kisuke to deal with the teen. She wasn't in the mood for talking; she had just felt like she had been frozen with fear because of that attack even though she knew that she didn't have enough time to get out of the path.

"Hello again, Aono-san;" the hat wearing man greeted "you seemed to have gotten fairly strong in the short time you've been a shinigami. I'd put you at roughly an upper level fuku-taichou; congratulations on that."

Ghoul took a subconscious step away from his new opponent; there was something about the man that was screaming _run for your life_. What made it worse was the fact that the man seemed harmless; so much so that it would be tempting to call him a potential push over. He knew better though; he could feel the reiatsu that the man was concealing and keeping hidden underneath that stupid smile of his. After recollecting himself, he grabbed the cross around his neck and yanked it off with a smile as his reiatsu increased greatly. This caught Kisuke off guard; instead of being just upper level fuku-taichou, Tsukune was actually mid taichou level.

"Very well;" Kisuke said as his eyes shadowed over and his voice became serious.

-Tsukune's Mindscape-

Tsukune picked up his Shikai state zanpakuto as he lifted himself up off the ground; blood came from his mouth as he spit and looked to the sky where Ghoul still stood. His dark self had told him a lot about when they were alive, and everything that Ghoul said had triggered a memory; everything Ghoul had been saying was the truth. Moka fed on him every day when he was alive, he saved Kurumu from Moka, he was tormented by Yukari when he first met her, he helped Mizore realize she wasn't alone, and he had saved Ruby from the darkness she let herself slip into. He even remembered all the events that led up to Moka injecting him with her blood and 'creating' Ghoul.

"**Ya gonna start coming at me seriously now;"** Ghoul asked from above **"or do I need to keep kickin' yer ass?"**

Tsukune vanished with a burst of sonido and appeared in front of Ghoul; he could feel a fire within himself that was starting to push him to fight more furiously. He ducked beneath the scythe's razor sharp edge as Ghoul took a swing and retaliated with a powerful punch to the open stomach that Ghoul left from his attack. As he watched Ghoul crash through the wall, he quickly sonido through the new opening to follow through with his attacks; surprise filled him as he managed to keep Ghoul on the defensive.

Ghoul kept the scythe closed so he could better control it for the close quarter onslaught he was facing. He swore as he barely managed to parry Tsukune's Shikai away from him and just managed to dodge getting kicked or punched as a follow up. Whatever was happening to Tsukune, he liked it; it gave him a challenge, which was something he's been wanting since they started this power clash. All he needed was to get an opening and he'd be able to tip the scale of their battle again.

As if on cue, Tsukune's blade caught the inside of his folded scythe and halted the brown haired boy's attacks. A grin grew on Ghoul's face as he flicked his scythe open and launched Tsukune away from him. By time Tsukune managed to slow himself down, he was put on the defensive as Ghoul smacked him in the face with the staff of his zanpakuto, leaving a small cut on his cheek, and followed up with a kick to the side. He could see the surprised look on Tsukune's face when the staff of his zanpakuto wrapped around his arm and made the large weapon a close range one that was easier to use against Tsukune's katana zanpakuto.

"**There's that instinct;"** Ghoul said as Tsukune blocked his zanpakuto **"that fire. Now yer really fightin' ta beat me!"**

Sparks flew through the air as Ghoul dragged his blade against Tsukune's and took a step forward putting him behind his human counterpart. The two spun around and swung at each other with enough force to cause the air around them to ripple when the blades hit one another. Ghoul only continued to grin as he kept his blade locked with Tsukune's; this fight was becoming so much fun now that Tsukune wasn't lying to himself about why he was here. Ghoul unraveled the staff from his arm and straightened it out as he twirled his zanpakuto around and smacked Tsukune across the face with it causing another gash.

Tsukune recovered after a small stagger and managed to catch the staff with his gauntleted hand as his dark counterpart started to swing it again. Swinging his Shikai at Ghoul, he managed to slice through his Hierro and into his gut. Dark red blood sprayed from the wound and onto Tsukune as followed up with a kick to the side of Ghoul's face by flipping himself over the staff. He watched as his Hollow-like self crashed into the main building of the fake Academy that made up his mindscape. With a burst of sonido, he dodged a Ketsujin that Ghoul fired at him from the dust filled air that surrounded where he stood.

"**Finally fightin' like ya should;"** Ghoul laughed as he pulled a metal rod out of his side and tossed it to the ground **"with everythin' ya got. Using yer skills how they should be used; only yer still holdin' back a bit. WHY?!"**

Ghoul held out his hand and began to charge a cero. He was sick of Tsukune holding back against him; he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't someone that Tsukune could afford to hold back against. This was a battle for dominance that wouldn't end until one of them was 'slain', for lack of better words, by the other. The indigo cero ripped through the air as it approached Tsukune at an ungodly rate.

-Real World-

"Lisa;" Shinji called out "that's time!"

The school girl from hell did her 'panty flash tornado' and knocked the winged teen that was Tsukune into a rock. Hacchi opened a door in the barrier for Lisa as she shunpo towards him and the others. When she made it through the opening, Soifon just stood and watched as what was soon to be Ghoul rushed towards the exit that was still open.

"SOIFON!" Kensei shouted at her.

She just ignored him as she narrowed her eyes at the almost completely jet black boy. The only thing that was keeping him from being completely jet black was the small amount of flame shaped normal skin that was left on his right arm.

"SOIFON!" Yoruichi shouted at her.

"Please don't make me kill you Tsukune;" she muttered to herself before vanishing.

When she reappeared, she planted both her feet into Tsukune's chest sending both of them in the direction she was originally going. As she felt their momentum slow, she did a back-flip snapping Tsukune's head up just before she spun her body around and landed a powerful kick to the side of his face sending him crashing through a boulder. The moment her feet touched the ground, she pushed off towards Tsukune and drew her zanpakuto.

She saw the red blade shoot towards her and twisted around the edge before grabbing onto the staff and continuing towards Tsukune. This wasn't the first time that she saw Ghoul extend the scythe like zanpakuto to great lengths like that; he had done the same thing against Shinji and caught him off guard. That attack had caused a massive gash in the long haired blonde's side.

When she was about to connect with Tsukune's body, she heard the snap of the blade returning to its normal position and saw the staff rapidly constrict. She swore mentally as she shunpo out of the path of the blade and landed on a far away boulder. Tsukune knew most of her moves and could come up with counter moves surprisingly easily with the zanpakuto he now had.

"This is going to be rough;" she admitted to herself as she watched Tsukune take flight towards her.

-Tsukune's Mindscape-

Tsukune crashed to the ground with the smell of brunt flesh filling his nose; he couldn't get out of the path of the cero in time and ended up taking the full force of it. He felt the ground cave around him creating a small crater. This couldn't really be his limit, his resolve; he came here to beat Ghoul and get stronger. If he couldn't do that then did he even deserve to face any of his friends again? He felt the ground begin to quake and rubble.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see massive tentacles erupt from the ground. Some were crushing trees, others were demolishing buildings, a few weren't doing anything but coming from the ground.

"What is that?" Tsukune asked as he picked himself up.

Each tentacle looked to be made up of several tubes surrounded by a bone-like, rib-shaped growth that held them together. Tends flexed and relaxed as the trees were easily crushed and buildings toppled.

"**Looks like the bastard is done nappin';**" Ghoul said **"this is a sneak peak of my zanpakuto spirit! I guess I should tell ya now; I'm more like an Arrancar than a Hollow now that we've undergone shinigami-fication. Bloodriver is yer zanpakuto, and this is just off shoots of mine; my zanpakuto is probably about to break through the chains that bind it. Now all I need to do is to get rid of yer sorry, pathetic, weak ass."**

Tsukune knew the truth in the words Ghoul used to describe him; he was pathetic and weak. He had no idea what he was doing half the time; always just going by what felt right. When he fought, he never felt right going all out against someone unless he knew that his opponent could take the damage and still have a chance of surviving. He was too soft to be put in a fight against someone that he could see their true face without feeling guilty about having to fight them, even if it was for the right reasons, and that made him weak.

'_I will be the shield that protects my friends and sword that fights for them'_ he heard in his head.

He did say that to Akasha when he was training with her; that's what pushed him to keep training for those two days. The thought of getting stronger so that there would be less that could beat him and get to his friends. His strength didn't come from himself either; it was all his friends that pushed him to get stronger. Rangiku in kido training; Grimmjow in sonido and small amounts of kendo; Yachiru always cheered him on; and Soifon always seemed to know what to say when he needed an extra push during his Hakuda training. Even Akasha helped him by both motivating him and giving him what he originally thought was bankai. If he couldn't beat Ghoul after all that, then he had no right to ever look any of his friends in the eyes again.

"**Now you die;"** Ghoul said as he brought down his zanpakuto.

Tsukune grabbed the edge of Ghoul's blade with his gauntleted hand and forced it to stop in its tracks. Red reiatsu surrounded him as he stood up and lifted his blade while he activated his 'pseudo-bankai'. Ghoul's eyes widened as he watched the blade change from the saw toothed double edge short sword to the long sword claymore hybrid as it came down on him.

-Real World-

Soifon panted as she held out her hand and activated Shunko; she had already pushed her time from the normal ten minutes close to fifteen now and had taken too many injuries because she was holding back against Tsukune. She had activated her Shikai at the nine minute mark so it would be a quick death; no hesitation, just one more strike on one of the many that were on Tsukune's body. The one she was going to be aiming for though was the one on the center of his chest where the center of his X shaped scar. Her arm and legs ached in protest to her charging towards Tsukune as he charged an indigo cero and fired it at her. Thinking on her toes, she shoved her Shikai into the center of the reiatsu based attack and watched it spin around her as she kept getting closer and closer to her target.

Just as she exited the cero, Tsukune's head snapped up and a white material began to erupt from his mouth as his right hand grabbed his katana zanpakuto and drew it; Soifon was thrown off her path and stabbed two centimeters to the left of her target mark putting it where his heart would be. As he drew it, power exploded from him as it changed into a short claymore looking blade and Tsukune dawned full armor and had a mask on his head that had black flames across the right side.

As she pulled her zanpakuto from his chest, she could see how tense his muscles were; it was almost as if Tsukune and Ghoul were still having their final attack against one another. In the corner of her eyes she could see the black fragments that used to be Tsukune's Hollowfying skin; it appeared that the force of his release caused what progression his Hollowfication had gone through to regress completely. Time seemed to move at a snail's pace when Tsukune dropped the scythe-like zanpakuto from his left hand and fell to his knees; before he could fall any further than that, Soifon caught him and gently lowered both of them to the ground.

"Tsukune?" she asked with worry.

"_**Soifon;"**_ he rasped beneath the mask _**"it's difficult to breath with this mask on."**_

She gulped as she carefully grabbed the mask and slowly lifted it from his face; her mind pondered if Tsukune truly won. When the mask was completely lifted, she could see his eyes; one was the expected amber, but his left one was solid red like a vampire's would be. Not caring about the group watching them, she pulled Tsukune close and hugged him into her chest. Hiyori noted that the mask was the same as what she saw in his reiatsu almost a week ago; so it was safe to say that the dumbass had beaten his Hollow.

As Urahara picked up the teen and carried him to a spare bedroom to sleep, Soifon spotted the cross that Ghoul had removed when he fought Urahara; the metal now had what appeared to be a red gem that had been crystallized around the center of the cross. When she caught a glimpse of it early on in her fight against Ghoul, it didn't have the strange gem; she did remember getting the wound on her right shoulder while she was near it though.

"Would you like treatment Soifon-taichou?" Hacchi asked as she picked up the cross.

"Hai."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Four hours had passed since Tsukune gained his Hollowfication mask; his hair had been cut back to its normal style and length, he was passed out on the bed, and they managed to place the scythe-like zanpakuto into the room he was staying in. The strange zanpakuto had literally tried to 'spike' them when they tried to grab it; they found Tsukune's shinigami top and placed it on top of the zanpakuto before picking it up. Soifon rubbed her right shoulder as she looked at the door to the bedroom Tsukune was asleep in and remembered everything Tsukune has done for her up till now.

First, he showed his potential by fighting her former fuku-taichou and actually going toe-to-toe with him; leading to her being able to get rid of the lazy bastard. Second, he offered to help her defeat Yoruichi when he had no reason to; she had no problem admitting that she enjoyed the hug he had given her either. Third, he got her a good pair of shoes that she would be comfortable in while at Yokai Academy; she still had the box amongst her toy cat collection and often blushed when she looked at it. And fourth, he could see pass the cold bitchy mask she always wore and saw _her_; the woman that needed someone to break the walls she had put up. As the person that needed someone to show her she is _a woman_, and not just the taichou of the Second Division, that needed to be just that; a woman.

"You got him" she heard Yoruichi say "GET HIM WHILE HE'S DOWN! COME ON YOU GOT THIS!"

Hearing Yoruichi's voice encouraging her in her mind, she bit into her bottom lip and went into Tsukune's room; after all, if Yoruichi was encouraging her to do it, it was most likely the right thing.

-Yoruichi-

The former taichou of the Second Division was currently watching Hiyori trying to beat Urahara at the latest 'Street Fighter' game. The blonde former fuku-taichou had managed to knock her former taichou to the ground with a kick ass combo, but missed her chance to finish him and got creamed. The small blonde stormed off to her room after whacking Shinji with her flip-flop for making a joke at her.

"So who else wishes to face this humble shopkeeper?"

"Hey Bee;" Yoruichi asked "you wanna give it a try?" nothing "Soifon?"

The feline like woman looked around and saw her former pupil had disappeared. She just shrugged her shoulders and put it off as the long day finally catching up to the petite taichou and she just went to sleep.

"Why does Braids get to see Tsuki but I don't?" Yachiru whined as she ran into the room.

Yoruichi immediately grabbed an empty glass cup and vanished to the bedroom door.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's Note:

I wish to clear some things up before I get reviews with silly, but understandable, questions. Yes, Lisa had created a Hakuda attack called 'Panty Flash Tornado'; she used it against Ichigo when he went to the Visoreds to face his Hollow. Ghoul's zanpakuto resembles Dante's scythe from 'Dante's Inferno' with the tip of an alien's tail from AVP. I also wanted to give Tsukune a different identifier, for lack of better words, that he was using his Hollowfication.


	32. Chapter 32

Author's note:

Again, the opening is a lemon just like in chapter 12; I'll give a better warning before it starts and ends so those of you that wish to skip it can.

Carry on,  
Demon

Xxxxxxxxxx

Soifon felt something she hadn't felt in a long time, nervousness; she had a plan and was actually nervous about executing it. Maybe it was because Tsukune was still asleep on the bed and she was afraid to wake him up to ask if he wanted to do it; or maybe it was her lack of experience in being with someone she has feelings for like she was planning. Regardless, she was starting to have second thoughts; she was breaking down to a schoolgirl trying to ask the boy she had a crush on out. Then it hit her. She was NOT going to allow herself to feel that weak; she was going to do this with her head held high and keep herself together.

Tsukune had heard the click of the door not too long ago and someone walk in, but didn't think anything of it; he thought it was just his imagination. While physically he felt like he could do a normal day's routine, he could feel that his reiatsu was far too depleted to do much of anything. The memories of when he was alive at Yokai Academy now floated not only in his head and in order as well; Ghoul was right when he said he would see things differently. At best he could only be friends with Moka because of everything he remembered now; that thought was only strengthened when he remembered how he interacted with Soifon.

"Tsukune;" he heard Soifon say in a gentle tone as she walked over to his bed.

"Soifon-taichou?" he asked in confusion as he sat up and looked at her.

He could barely make out her petite figure, but he knew it was her by how she walked and the way her reiatsu felt. The fact that she was checking up on him made him smile; he wasn't sure if she felt the same way about him as he felt about her, but it was something he liked.

"I'm not here as a taichou;" she said as she unwrapped the yellow sash from around her waist and tossed her taichou haori onto the chair in the corner "are you able to stand… I want to ask you something."

Tsukune nodded as he spun his legs around to the side of the bed and stood up; he blinked a couple times after standing up a little too fast. While his pseudo-bankai gave him regeneration abilities that were on par with the strongest of Shinso vampires, he didn't have it activated long enough to replenish all his blood and was most likely a tiny bit short still. He made a mental note to ask Akasha about this 'fake bankai' later.

Soifon felt herself unconsciously shrink as she watched Tsukune stand in front of her; mentally swearing for asking him to stand when he could've just as easily stayed in the bed. Perhaps it would've been easier on him if he did stay in the bed since they were most likely going to end up there again anyway. Taking a deep breath, she discretely recomposed herself as Tsukune rubbed the back of his head nervously; damn he was making this harder than it needed to be. It was that slight naivety that she liked about him, but right now she knew it was going to be annoying with how Tsukune had scratched his head.

"What…" trying to find the right words "do you think of me?"

"You're a great taichou;" without hesitation "you push me so I can get stronger faster."

"That's not what I meant…" biting her lip nervously "I mean; what do you think of _me_?"

Tsukune walked pass Soifon and turned on the lights; he was starting to think that this was a dream again. Ever since Grimmjow had asked him what he felt about Soifon he's had rather suggestive dreams; he wasn't sure if anything happened in his dreams because they were always in bed covered up. He'd thought about Soifon as a person and not just a taichou a lot; when the light flicked on he could see she was dressed in her normal shinigami attire.

"You can be a little cold at times," he said feeling confident that this wasn't a dream "but I understand why. You don't want to let someone get close enough to hurt you like you felt when Yoruichi-chan left without saying anything. You see when I need help with something," as he walked back over to his bed "and you offer to help. I feel like you want someone to tell you that everything is going to be okay. And, I trust you with my life."

Soifon didn't even bother to try to reply with words; she smashed her lips against Tsukune's and could feel that she had caught him completely off guard. As she backed away from Tsukune, she immediately felt regret for being so forward and coming on as forceful. Without a word, she turned to leave but felt a hand grab her wrist; before she could say anything, she was spun around and found herself in Tsukune's arms. The next thing she realized, Tsukune had pressed his lips against hers with bruising force. Her heart fluttered as she returned the kiss; feeling confident that this was consent, she continued. She placed her hands against his chest as she pressed her body against his and began to push him. This wasn't to push him away or push her off him; no, she was pushing him to the bed and intended to follow.

(Lemon)

Tsukune let out a small grunt as he hit the bed with Soifon on top of him. Her small hands explored his chest as she pushed into the kiss even more and caused him to take a sharp breath when she found his scar. He could feel her smile against his lips as she traced the scar in a teasing manner; while he was sure she enjoyed getting the reaction, just as he was enjoying how it tingled through him. The tip of her nail just barely touching the scar tissue and gently scrapping against the battle wound. His hands found their way to her back and discovered that it was incredibly toned but smooth. The feel of the greatly trained muscles underneath his fingers made him smile himself; he had caught glances of her from affair when he was sure she wasn't looking, but to actually feel her body. He felt extremely lucky.

Soifon groaned in pleasure as she felt Tsukune explore her back. The callous that had developed on his hands from wielding his zanpakuto gave them that rough but gentle feel to them; just as she imagined it would. While giving subtle moans and groans to help guide him to the spots that sent enjoyable tingles through her, she pressed her body against Tsukune's as she decided to try something. Using her tongue, she pushed the teen-beneath-her's mouth open and slid it in; after she felt Tsukune tense for a second, she found herself being held tighter as he wormed his own tongue into her mouth. The petite taichou quickly found Tsukune flicking his tongue against hers and decided to return the favor.

In no time, they found themselves 'fighting' for access to the other's mouth and pressing against each other harder as they kept at it. Their tongues rolled, pushed, and 'shoved' against each other as the battle became more and more serious. In the end though, Tsukune was the one that was victorious and her explored the warm cavern that was Soifon's mouth. She let out a moan as she felt his hands slide down her back and became dangerously close to her butt.

When she felt his hand stop at the very small of her back, she let out an irritated groan as she wiggled an arm free, grabbed his hand, and then practically smacked it against her well formed bottom. She wanted to be touched, to have her body explored, ravaged, and admired by the one beneath her. If she needed to control his hands to get that message across; so be it, but she refused to let Tsukune be his overly cautious self. She wanted him to do the things she dreamed of him doing to her; to make her speechless from pleasure, to blow her mind as he took her to cloud nine, to be the one to take charge of her.

The brown haired teen was surprised when Soifon had moved his hand to her backside; he had honestly expected her to move it up higher and further away. Feeling confident, he gave the nicely toned muscle in his hand a powerful squeeze and got a louder moan than he had gotten before; he gently let up and squeezed again earning him another moan. As he continued this, he felt a pressure building up in his pants that was begging to be released; he desperately tried to keep the inevitable from happening.

Only seconds later, he could feel that he was pressing against the woman on top of him and watched in slight fear as she pushed off his chest and was sitting on his lap. He could see a blush on her face as she fidgeted and repositioned herself so she wasn't being poked; or that's how it appeared to him. When her blush grew and he felt a wave of pleasure shoot through him from his groin, he wasn't sure what to think.

"I'm… I'm sorry;" he said as he blushed heavily when he noticed the sweat starting to form on his taichou.

"For what?"

"Forcing you to do that."

"What makes you think you could force me to do anything; Tsukune?" as she narrowed her eyes and lowered her face to his.

He remained quiet as he noticed the seriousness in her eyes that had a glaze of some sort behind them; he wasn't completely sure what it was, but his instincts suggested that it was lust.

"I want this Tsukune;" she whispered into his ear "I want you; Tsukune. I've caught you looking at me when you thought I wouldn't several times; you see _me_, and I…" not sure what word would best describe the feeling but found one that would work for now "admire that about you. If you don't want to go any further just say so; otherwise," as she guided his hands to her shoulders "please don't stop."

The new Visored gulped slightly as he mustered up the courage, slid Soifon's top from its place on her shoulders, and revealed her breasts as the fabric fell to the bed. They weren't large but weren't small either, if he had to guess he'd say they were about a low to mid B-cup, and seemed to defy gravity thanks to how tone her entire body was. The skin that made up the mounds was flawless, with the exception of a small scar above her right breast; her nipples were cherry sized and appeared a little stiff. All in all, they were perfect on her.

"Wow;" was all Tsukune could say as he drank in the sight.

The fearless Commander of the Onmitsukido felt herself shrink back as she watched Tsukune stare hungrily at her. She flinched slightly when Tsukune pulled her back down and captured her lips with his own as one of his hands molded itself to her right breast. Moans escaped her as he massaged the flesh mound and his other hand began its menstruations on her butt. After what she guessed was about five minutes, she felt the burn on his hand slide against her nipple and down to the edge of her pants; causing her to gasp in response to the sensation that glided across her chest and down her side.

When she felt Tsukune tug at her pants, she helped him remove the article of clothing while secretly sliding her thong along with it; she didn't want him to possibly get turned off at the sight of her yellow and black striped design. The moment her pants were off, she tossed them to the floor before making quick work of his pants and simple black boxers; as she removed his boxers, she saw how large Tsukune's 'zanpakuto' really was. It wasn't monstrous, but it was by no means small, a little more than eight inches; she knew enough about a normal person's anatomy to know that he was at least an inch larger than what he should be proportionately. She bit the inside of her lip as she sat on Tsukune's waist line again and tried not to wonder if he'd fit inside her.

Her heart began to pound in her chest as nervousness filled her again as she realized something; this was the first time she had let someone else remove her clothes before having sex, and it felt a little weird to her. That nervousness was quickly lost when Tsukune sat up and kissed her while holding her cheek. Just one more thing she admired about him, he always seemed to know how to make her forget her worries; to help her find a way to metaphorically tell the world to 'fuck off', as Jagerjaquez would put it. A mischievous grin grew on her face as she gently pushed Tsukune back to the bed and admired his physique while he took in hers. His body was starting to become more and more defined thanks to the training he put himself through; his chest was chiseled, shoulders and arms strong but lean, and he had a six pack of abs starting to show. Just thinking about how much his body had changed and developed, in both skill and physique, since she first found him in the Rukongai District made her proud to be his mentor.

Tsukune admired his mentor's body as she sat on his waist. Her skin was practically flawless with only a few scars that showed from her years of combat experience and training. Her stomach was smooth and met her chest and waist perfectly to give her that sexy hourglass figure that many people desired. His gaze found its way to Soifon's face; her beautiful grey eyes wondered over his body, her triangle jaw line that was met by the black of her hair. It was perfect on her. His eyes wondered to her slender waist where he saw her cleanly shaved pussy; figuring it had something to do with her being a martial artist he didn't say anything. Not that he would anyway.

Then he noticed a slight reflection caused by a strange moisture coming from the 'lips between her hips', as he's heard some students, at both Yokai Academy and the Shinigami Academy, refer to the pussy as. While he remembered a lot after defeating Ghoul, he couldn't remember if he had ever done something like this and didn't know what it was. He slid his hand along her thigh as he attempted to get a sample of the moisture to see what it was, only to be stopped by Soifon's hand when he got a few inches away from the area.

The Taichou of the Second Division blushed heavily as she continued to feel the tingles run through her because of Tsukune's hand running along her leg. Once the tingling stopped, she lifted herself up and grabbed Tsukune's dick, which caused him to take a sharp breathe of air in surprise at the sudden feeling around him. She knew that if they continued like they had been they'd never get to what she was wanting; Tsukune was strange like that but Soifon was sure that once they got started he'd quickly get into the swing of things. As she lowered herself onto Tsukune, she gasped at how much his member was widening her but that didn't stop her. She slowly continued and allowed herself some time to adjust to the large muscle inside her. Her eyes looked towards Tsukune and saw that his head was pressing into the pillow hard as he gripped the sheets.

Tsukune hadn't expected this to happen ever, but now that it actually was the sensations he had been feeling were amazing at the least. When Soifon had grabbed his penis, he was thrown completely off guard; but when she lowered herself onto him, he nearly lost all control of himself the moment he felt her flesh wrap around him. The only thing that allowed him to keep control was focusing on her rather than just the pleasure that had shot through him; even that was taxing though. Every moment that he felt Soifon slide further down his member made it harder to keep from having the whining in him explode; he knew what would happen if it did and was sure that the taichou would be extremely angry for doing that inside her.

Soifon's face flushed red as she discovered she was as far down as her body would let her go and still wasn't sitting on Tsukune's hips. While she figured this would happen, she hadn't expected it to happen so soon; she was hoping to get another inch down. Using her arms to keep her from letting gravity test her luck as she adjusted to having someone in her again after such a long time, she watched Tsukune get used to being in someone. She could see his fists unclench from the bed sheets they were threatening to rip as he noticeably became accustomed to the feeling around him.

When she was sure he could handle it, she used her legs to lift herself up his member and controlled herself as she went back down. Tsukune groaned in pleasure at the feeling that shot through him; it was like ecstasy. That feeling was only increased when Soifon began moaning as she continued the menstruation and he began to feel it lower on his member. He watched as her lips spread and came together as she went up and down on him; with every cycle, Soifon's moaning seemed to get louder and faster. As her nails raked against his abdominal, he felt something in him lose control and he grabbed her hips and forced the petite woman all the way down to his own.

"TSUKUNE" Soifon screamed in ecstasy as she felt her insides get stretched.

This was exactly what she wanted; Tsukune taking charge and controlling her, to an extent, while she was nearly speechless because of him. Her lust filled eyes met Tsukune's as she panted; she didn't want him to stop, but wasn't sure if he needed a bit to adjust. He was unintentionally tormenting her at the moment, she was so close to her peak and he was just keeping her on his hips. She wanted to have her release, but he was unintentionally denying her that in a teasing way.

Tsukune lifted his hips up before using his arms to take her a little higher as he let his hips drop back down. When he felt Soifon start to slide back down, he thrust his hips up into hers and caused a smacking sound as their hips met and Soifon threw her head back. Her walls clamped around him as he repeated the movement and caused his taichou to let out an inaudible scream of pleasure as he slammed into her deepest regions. He could feel his Hierro start to give under her nails after the fourth time.

It slowly became harder to move as he felt Soifon tighten around him even more, but he kept at it; causing her to moan his name as she broke the skin on his stomach. All sense of time and situational awareness was lost as her insides felt like they were about to explode from the pleasure Tsukune was giving her. She was right on the peak now and was resisting going over it; until she felt that Tsukune was having a harder time continuing because of her. When she felt her hips meet his, she let out a cry of pleasure as she came hard and kept from leaving Tsukune's hips with her legs.

Tsukune grit his teeth as he felt Soifon's insides doing something weird to his penis and he could feel a liquid of some sort sticking to his member. It felt extremely good, but, like before, he didn't want to cum inside the woman. His grip on her hips tightened as he fought to keep from losing it and just cumming inside her; the last thing he wanted was to upset the petite beauty. It wasn't out of fear of her, not by a long shot; it was out of fear that she could get pregnant as a result. He didn't want to mess up Soifon's career because of this; whatever this was at the moment.

He felt that her arms weren't putting as much pressure against his stomach and caught her just before she fell. Whatever had just happened had worn her out a lot more than it had him. Her half lidded eyes looked at Tsukune and he could swear she was silently begging for more; forcing himself up, he met her gaze before gently pressing his lips against hers. She instinctively let her body mold against his as she felt like she melted into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him.

She ground her hips against his and caused both of them to moan into one another. Tsukune slowly made his way down her neck, savoring the salty taste of her skin because of the sweat, and towards her breasts. Instinct was driving him now, and it was telling him to do more than what he's been doing. He tried to thrust his hips up against hers, but found that with how he was positioned it was extremely difficult; he let out an irritated groan as he scrapped his teeth against the flesh of Soifon's right breast. He felt her shudder in response as his lips met a small scar before continuing down towards her cherry sized nipples.

Soifon arched her back when Tsukune's lips met her sensitive nipple and he began to slide his tongue over the skin. It wasn't like she had dreamt but was still extremely pleasurable. Arching even more, she grabbed Tsukune's head and pulled him closer in an attempt to find even more pleasure; only to have Tsukune wrap his arms around her back and pull her to him. The feel of his strong arms holding her only made her feel even better as she felt Tsukune flick her nipple with his tongue; it was like he wasn't just satisfying her physically, but emotionally, to an extent, as well. She gasped as Tsukune nipped the flesh in his mouth and he tried to fight her leaning away from him.

For some reason, Tsukune found himself getting irritated that she was leaning away from him while pulling him with her. Eventually he found himself having to catch both of them from falling all the way to the bed; with a grunt, he pulled Soifon back up and flipped them over so she was on bottom and used his arms to keep his weight off her. As he released the cherry sized nipple with a small pop, he pushed his hips against the woman's and caused her to arch her back as she flexed her fingers into his back.

The feeling of her nails pressing against his Hierro as he slowly withdrew from and pushed back into her edged him on. He wasn't sure if it was because of the slight pain, or if it was because he knew that he was causing her that much pleasure, but he liked it. With each cycle of out and in, he could feel Soifon arching against him more and more as her nails dug deeper and deeper into his Hierro.

"Tsuk…" she gasped/screamed "TSUKUNE!"

He could feel her clamping around him again as her nails broke through his Hierro and into his skin while he thrust into her. Her walls massaged his dick as he continued to push into his taichou; now he understood that the tight feeling around him was connected to the liquid he felt coating his member. Just something else that edged him to keep going how he was because it was clearly working. Each thrust he made drove him closer to his own orgasm, but before he could try to pull out Soifon wrapped her legs around his waist and trapped him. Feeling that he was reaching a point of no return, he clamped his teeth into his taichou's collar bone to try to hold it off and hopefully have her let him go. He heard her gasp as she dug her nails even further into his back and tightened her hold on him; he mentally swore when he knew that he couldn't hold it back any longer.

"SOIFON" he groaned into her collar bone as he emptied his load into her.

Soifon arched her back even further as she felt the hot thick liquid pour into her. Her entire body suddenly went limp as Tsukune's arms gave out and his full weight was on her. It was just as she had hoped, possibly even better since she wasn't sure how experienced he was.

(End Lemon)

She didn't mind when he bit her; if anything she was surprised to find that she kind of liked it. It wasn't like it was meant to do permanent damage or done intentionally; it was a pleasant sting that was still spreading through her. Now she started to question if she was a masochist or not. If she was, it'd only be with Tsukune since she felt he would be able to keep a relationship professional and wouldn't say anything about what happens between them. As he let go of her collar bone, she unwrapped her legs from around him and began to feel his weight; while it wasn't unbearable, it was still enough to feel rather uncomfortable.

"Tsukune…" she said in a way that he misinterpreted as her being angry.

"I'm sorry;" he immediately replied "I didn't mean to cum inside you."

"Not…" gasping for air "that; you're crushing me."

Tsukune apologized as he rolled himself off the petite woman and laid next to her on the bed; he panted as his body demanded more oxygen and the smell of sweat, a little blood, and sex filled his nose. Never would he have thought that Soifon would want to do that with him; there had been rumors flying around in the Seireitei that she was a lesbian. He never paid attention to those rumors because he didn't think that her sexual orientation affected her effectiveness as a taichou, and now he knew the rumors were just that; rumors.

His thoughts began to shift to the person those rumors were about; he knew her pretty well and was comfortable around her. Sure, she could come across as a cold hearted bitch, as he heard some sensei call her, but he knew the reason for it. While she might seem sadistic, uncaring, and even bitchy, he knew deep down she was just a woman looking for love; someone that could see pass everything she seemed to be. On days that he'd train with her, they'd take training seriously and when they were done they'd often talk; he occasionally would notice a small smile. That line of thought was interrupted when he felt something shift beside him and a small weight on his shoulder. He looked and saw Soifon's head resting on him and her body just far enough away from his to keep from touching.

"Soifon;" he asked gently "what are you doing?"

"Snuggling;" she said sheepishly with a small blush.

"But we're still naked;" as he looked and his face turned bright red.

Soifon just blinked dumbly at him. While snuggling was a new thing to her, she was sure that Tsukune had done it in the past. Even though it caused a ping of jealousy to think about, she felt pretty safe in assuming that he's had sex with at least one of the girls from Yokai Academy; either before he died or when he returned there for their current assignment. But thinking back on his reactions earlier, he was probably a virgin at the time.

"We just had sex, Tsukune. I'll admit that I usually just leave after having sex with someone, but I want to stay with you."

Tsukune remained quiet, which caused Soifon to start to get up while hiding her disappointment; she really wanted to at least try a relationship with the teen, but if he didn't want to she would let her feelings for him fade away. While she was hoping for more than just a one-night-stand, her inexperience was making it hard for her to express that and more willing to just walk away like she was trying to do. Catching her off guard, he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back to him. Her body became flush with his as he held her waist tightly against his side in his arm.

"I don't want you to leave;" he said softly "I'm just not used to being naked with a beautiful woman. Please stay," Soifon could feel her face heating up "Soifon."

The petite woman smiled as she rubbed her head against Tsukune's shoulder as he held her waist firmly against his. This was something she could get very used to, snuggling against his firm body as they let sleep take over them; it was a dream come true. She listened to the steady beat of Tsukune's heart as her eyelids became heavy and she drifted to sleep not caring about the light that was still on.

-Yoruichi-

The former taichou rubbed her thighs together as she listened to the silence that overcame the room she had been listening to for the past hour. While she was glad that her former pupil got laid, and by a guy she actually likes; the sounds she had heard in that time had made her rather horny herself. She never would've thought that Bee would let loose like that; the reiatsu she felt practically exploded from both Soifon and Tsukune a couple times. In a way, the feline like woman was jealous; it had been a while since she's been able to lose control like that. A thought came to her as she noticed a certain candy store owner walking out of the bathroom. With a burst of shunpo, she grabbed him by his shirt and went into the first bedroom that was unlocked. When she got into the room with Kisuke in tow, she tossed out the occupant and slammed the door before locking it.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!" Hiyori shouted as she pounded on the door.

She heard a loud moan and knew exactly what was about to happen.

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN' DARE KISUKE! GET OUT OF MY ROOM;" as she pounded even harder "NO, NO, NO, NO! I JUST WASHED MY SHEETS! GET OUT!"

(Author's Note: to give people that skipped the lemon more to read than a third of the chapter, I'm going to rewind to lunch from the previous chapter and follow Ichigo from there.)

-Ichigo; several hours ago-

Substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo held Orihime's hand as they walked through the erry woods; while he didn't have anything against it, he knew Orihime was probably on the verge of feeling like she was reliving her time in Las Noches. The best he could do was squeeze her hand every now and then to remind her that he was there and keep his eyes and ears open. Grimmjow had warned him that this place didn't have any humans; it was full of Yokai that could actually take on low level Hollows and very weak shinigami.

The main reason she was here was because she insisted on coming when she found out that there had been a serious attack. Even when Ichigo protested, she said she wanted to go and heal everyone; it didn't help that Nel brought up the fact he took her to Karakura Town. Finally seeing defeat, he agreed to take her if she'd stay close to him; it took no time for the busty healer to agree to the terms. Once that was settled they went to Karakura Town where they were picked up by a bus driver who seemed to know him and had eyes that looked like they were piercing straight through him. It made him shudder just thinking about it.

The busty human held Ichigo's hand tightly as the practically dead forest began to remind her of Hueco Mundo. She didn't have anything against the forest, but it was too quiet for her liking. The only sound that was ever heard was the screeching of bats or insects buzzing by them; it was making her nervous. There were moments when she expected Hollows to ambush them, but she knew that they weren't there; if they would have been, she would've sensed them. She began to understand why Ichigo didn't want her to come; she felt a subconscious fear grow in her. That fear was lost when Ichigo gave her hand a small squeeze and a smile to assure her he was still there.

As they exited the forest, the couple saw what appeared to be students walking around a mansion. Ichigo subconsciously pulled Orihime closer as he noticed several people starring at her; he wanted to make sure she was as close as possible until they found Tsukune or the others. He could feel Orihime begin to warm up from being so close to him, but she didn't say anything; she only smiled as she leaned against him slightly. There were countless comments that he overheard; many were about his hair color, no surprise there, but more were about Orihime. He was on the verge of wanting to start punching people for some of the comments he was hearing when he heard a familiar voice.

"YOU TWO ARE FINALLY DATING!" Rangiku shouted in joy as she ran over and gave Orihime a hug.

Ichigo let out an irritated groan as the busty blonde poked fun at him by saying it took him long enough, and she was worried because she was starting to think he was gay. Was it really that hard to believe that he just wasn't into the whole 'getting flashed by random chicks' thing; he did have respect for women. It annoyed him how Yoruichi and Rangiku would try to flash him at random; only Yoruichi was often successful because she could just change from her cat form. He listened to the two women talk as they walked, it was mostly catching up from the past couple weeks. The name 'Ginnei' came up a couple times as they entered the cafeteria. There were students everywhere and they were actually being somewhat quiet; when they walked towards a small group of people he found out why.

"If it's important enough for you to tell us," he heard a woman say "then you can say it right now!"

"It'll be better if it's at the end of the day;" he heard Tsukune say.

Ichigo saw silver hair and red eyes as he managed to find his way through the crowd. It seemed to be the one that was having the argument with Tsukune because he could see the pissed look on her face. That must have been the person Ghoul had mentioned when he was back in the Seireitei. He was immediately reminded of Byakuya because of how the silver haired girl held herself; her demanding information as if she was entitled to it didn't help either.

"Eiyu;" Rangiku called out "look who came to visit. And they're finally dating!"

Eiyu looked over to the new couple and smiled.

"Sup Eiyu;" Ichigo said "how's things been?"

"Not very good;" he admitted with a sigh.

Orihime looked at the silver haired girl and the broken leg she had. This was the whole reason she came with Ichigo; the attack that happened that caused several people to get hurt. She noticed the girl's eyes look her way.

"Why are you starring at me?" Moka demanded to know.

Ichigo immediately flared his reiatsu at the vampire; he wasn't going to let her get away with talking to Orihime like that. He could see that the vampire noticed the flare when her attention was turned to him. It was bad enough that Menoly and Loly still had that tone with Orihime when they talked to her, but this vampire didn't even know her and was trying to act all high and mighty.

"It's ok Ichigo;" Orihime said before looking back at Moka "would you like me to heal your leg?"

"It'll be fine in a couple days."

"Orihime can make it like the injury never happened;" Rangiku chimed in with a smile "speaking of that, could I ask a favor Orihime?"

"Of course Rangiku-san!"

With that Rangiku grabbed Orihime's hand and ran off; leaving Ichigo and Eiyu with Moka and a crowd watching them. Ichigo already didn't like the vampire, but the glare she was giving him was starting to really piss him off. She had that look that screamed arrogant to others, and ignorant to why others try so hard; it was like she was given everything since day one. While Byakuya had a similar look, he quickly lost it after Ichigo fought him on equal ground and even had a level of respect from the noble; which was something he was glad of. He didn't need his friend's brother holding a holier than thou look at him; it would cause way too much trouble.

Moka's eyes narrowed at the orange haired teen as she desperately fought the urge to kick him across the campus. He didn't look to be anything special in even the slightest way; the only thing that was notable was that he smelled human. She clinched her jaw tight as she only found more and more questions as she thought about everything that's happened in the past few days, no, the past couple weeks.

"That's probably a bad idea;" she heard Mizore say causing her to give the yuki-ona a questioning look "I'm surprised you can't feel it. He has so much youki that he can't keep it from leaking out; he easily has more than you do, but not as much as Eiyu."

Ichigo let out a small groan of annoyance; he thought he had finally gotten the hang of keeping his reiatsu from just spilling out of him.

"Hey Mizore-chan;" the brown haired teen said "you feeling better?"

"Hai; Kurumu is still shaken up though. It's not every day you get kidnapped under false orders from the leader of your village, but I saw it coming. I guess that's why I'm handling it so well and Kurumu's having trouble still."

"It hasn't even been a day," Eiyu said "I'm sure it takes time to get over."

"Could we talk in private?" Mizore asked before looking at Ichigo "you too."

Eiyu gulped slightly before nodding and hearing a 'sure' from Ichigo. He had a strong feeling that this conversation was going to be a difficult one and if she wanted Ichigo to go along too it could only mean that she knew about shinigami. Things were already crazy enough since Survival Day, more so considering Mizore and Kurumu's kidnapping. A thought suddenly entered his mind; what if she saw him while Ghoul was in control? That thought alone put more fear in him than anything else. When he finally got a hold of himself, he noticed that Mizore had led him and Ichigo to the gym; which was completely empty. Mizore turned around and looked at the two with eyes that showed shit was about to hit the fan.

"Why didn't you tell us you were back?" she asked Tsukune.

"We got back from your village at the same time;" trying to cover himself while knowing what she was getting at.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT TSUKUNE!" she shouted at him "I know you're a shinigami, or at least very shinigami like. Shinigami are souls, you died two months ago."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Orihime followed her bustier friend to through the school and to the roof where she saw a guy sitting by himself and scratching at his back and chest. While to anyone else it would've been funny, she was slightly worried. The last time she saw someone scratching at themselves that badly was when someone put itching powder on a sensei's chalk as a prank; the prank backfired when the sensei threw the chalk pieces at them for not being quiet during class.

"Ginnei;" Rangiku called out in a cheerful voice "time to get healed up!"

"FINALLY!" he said with joy as he threw off his jacket and started to undo his shirt "I feel like I did when I got fleas back when I was five."

"Soten Kisshun" she said softly as the two fairy-like beings came from her hair pins and made the gold half dome.

Moments later the werewolf let out a sigh of relief as the itching came to a stop and the dome dissolved. Never before did he think that just bandages would feel so good; the itch was finally gone and he could actually pay attention to everything. Right as he was about to thank her, the itch returned; with a vengeance. Thinking quickly, he started to rip the bandages off his body and tossed them to the ground as Rangiku helped. That's when the busty fuku-taichou saw it, the small insect with a tear drop shaped body and six legs that were meant for jumping, and let out a scream of horror as she started to scratch at her own body.

"YOU DID HAVE FLEAS!" she shouted at Ginnei.

-Yachiru-

The tiny fuku-taichou strolled into Yukari's hospital room with a smile on her face and a small laptop in her hands. She had devoured her lunch and decided to visit her friend in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Yuka-chan;" in a cheerful voice as she opened up the laptop "you wanna see somethin' funny?"

The small witch didn't have time to respond before she saw the screen reveal Gin scratching at himself like a maniac and Rangiku doing the same as an orange haired girl was freaking out trying to figure out how to help them. Yukari erupted into a fit of laughter that caused her sides to hurt.


	33. Chapter 33

"Wh-what?" Tsukune asked in shock.

"I know it's you Tsukune;" Mizore said as tears began to form "what I don't know is why. Why didn't you tell us you were back? Ever since the Hollows started attacking Ruby has been terrified by the thought of you possibly being one of them; then when we all called you by your name, you said we were mistaken. Why?" tears of mixed emotions flowing from her eyes now "why did you lie to us?"

Tsukune's eyes filled with sadness as he watched Mizore cry; this was something he was hoping to avoid. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his friends like this, yet here it was happening. There was something he could do now though; he could tell her the truth and hope she would forgive him.

"At the time," he began "I couldn't; I was following orders from the sou-taichou and I was barely staying in the boundaries. I dropped out of the Shinigami Academy because I couldn't just sit by and let you and Kurumu have who knows what done to you two. You're my friends and I'll put you first, you know that, but no matter how much I wanted too I couldn't be myself with everyone;" as he pulled her into a hug "I had to keep everyone at enough of a distance that you wouldn't get mixed up with these Hollow attacks. I'm sorry."

"We always faced everything together;" as she buried her head in his shoulder "you should've told us what was going on."

"I'm sorry; there's still a few more things I need to take care of, after that I'll tell you, Kurumu, Yukari, Ruby, and Moka what's going on."

-Orihime-

The busty healer was in a panic as she tried to think of some way to help her friend. It was like someone had mixed itching powder in with their laundry detergent and nothing could be done to help. As comical as the scene might have been to someone just passing by, she knew she couldn't do anything to get rid of the fleas; of course she could heal them after the fleas were gone, but that was it. Right now they had to find a way to get rid of the small insects, and before they spread throughout the school's student body.

"Just go to the swimming pool;" the three heard from the roof entrance.

Without needing to see who had suggested it, Matsumoto grabbed Gin and shunpo to the pool; leaving Orihime on the roof with Moka. The busty fuku-taichou was positive that the S-ranked vampire wasn't going to cause trouble; if anything, said girl would prevent trouble from trying to find her orange haired friend. Moka might have a bit of an attitude at times, but she wasn't going to snap at Orihime because the healer was friends with Eiyu a.k.a. Tsukune.

Orihime turned and saw Moka standing on her crutches in the door way with a semi-straight face. The busty healer could tell that the vampire girl was stressed, upset, confused, angry, and several other things because of everything that's been going on. While the emotions were easy to see, it was difficult to tell what the silver haired girl was thinking. There was one thing she could see was on the girl's mind as she walked over to the railing with the help of her crutches; the fear of being useless. The healer knew that feeling all too well; she had it for years even after gaining her amazing abilities it didn't vanish.

"Sorry about snapping at you earlier;" Moka said as she looked out over the trees in the distance.

"It's fine;" waving her hands in front of her "I shouldn't have been staring. Jagerjaquez-san told us what's been happening, so I understand you're stressed; so it's no problem really."

"I'm used to stress;" as her grip began to crush the handle of her crutches "but I'm not used to this. I'm not used to feeling this weak, being so useless; I broke my leg against that woman's head and she didn't even budge. I used to be the strongest person at this school, and I let it get to my head. We used to know what was going on, but now I have absolutely no clue about what's happening anymore; all I do know is that those Hollow things keep attacking the academy.

We took on the Safety Committee, the Outcasts, and even stopped the barrier around the school from being dissolved; it was tough, but we had an idea about what was going on. The Safety Committee tried to kill Tsukune for being human at a school for monsters when the rules forbid it, the Outcasts kidnapped me to try to kill Tsukune only to nearly be killed themselves, and Tsukune gave his life restoring the barrier to keep the school safe."

Moka long since crushed the handles on her crutches and was on the verge of tears as she remembered last year. Everything that happened last year had happened mainly because Tsukune was human and he gave his life to protect everyone, including those that had threatened him and his friends, on campus. He, a human, did what few monsters would have had the ability to do and he paid the ultimate price for it.

"Soten Kisshun; I reject" Orihime said.

Before Moka could ask what she meant by that, a golden semi-dome formed over her broken leg. Her eyes shook as she felt her bones regenerate; no not regenerate because that would imply a throbbing pain. This was different; it was like Rangiku had said only a few minutes ago, the orange haired girl was making it so the injury never happened. It was difficult to explain, but even the pain faded immediately the moment the golden semi-dome formed over her leg. What replaced pain was something she could only describe as love; this person, no she mentally shook her head, Orihime had a power that derived from love.

The busty healer felt the reiatsu that lingered in Moka's leg; she remembered who it belonged to even though she only ever met the Arrancar for a brief moment. Tia Harribel, the third strongest Espada that Aizen commanded. She heard that the attack was bad, but she didn't think it was this bad.

"That should do it;" Orihime said with a smile hiding her worries about the Teresa Espada as the dome dissipated and returned to her hair pin.

Moka let her body weight naturally fall evenly on her two legs and was pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no pain coming from her casted leg. After the initial surprise a smile slowly found its way onto her face just before she lifted her leg and brought it crashing down onto the roof causing the plaster of the cast to shatter.

"Thank you;" she said as she looked at her bare leg.

"It's not a problem; that's why I came with Ichigo, to heal everyone."

"Can I ask you for a favor; would you heal my sister first?"

Orihime nodded her head.

-An hour later-

Orihime dissipated her Soten Kisshun from around Grimmjow, who scoffed saying he didn't ask for the favor. She knew the panther Arrancar well enough to know that was his way of thanking her; luckily so did Ichigo or their argument would've made a bigger scene than it already was. Luckily the panther wasn't trying to get the rematch Ichigo had promised him a couple months ago and understood that even though she could heal his body, she couldn't replenish his reiatsu.

"I told ya," Grimmjow snapped at Ichigo "I ain't gotta thank her. She did it without me askin' so I don't have to say shit!"

"You're the one that contacted us so we could come here;" the orange haired teen snapped back "so it's the same thing as asking her to heal you. Now thank her!"

Before Grimmjow could reply, he was tackled to the ground by a sand-blonde woman.

"Grimmi;" she said in a soft voice "I'm glad you're all better now. I was worried" as she pulled him closer to her.

"I told ya;" in a strangely caring tone "it'll take more than that to kill me."

Ichigo blinked a couple times in disbelief; Grimmjow, caring? He figured the panther Arrancar had a softer side to him, but didn't think he'd see it for a few years; there was also the look he had in his eyes. It reminded him of how Zangetsu looked at Bloodriver a couple weeks ago; instead of a battle ready glare, there was a softness showing. It was nice to see that Grimmjow had found someone he could show his gentle side to.

"I think she ran over as soon as I had a message sent to her" Hanataro said as he walked in.

"Hanataro? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"I was bringing Aono-san his test results, but couldn't find him so I spent a couple days running from a red haired vampire named Shuzen Kokoa. I was also there when the Arrancar attacked; after that I spent most of my time here in the infirmary helping how I can. Have you seen a girl with blue hair; she's not in her room and I was hoping to make sure her vitals are still stable."

Ichigo just stared blankly at the seventh seat. It wasn't that he didn't think that there was a girl with that color hair; it was that the seventh seat needed to be more specific. He saw five different girls with bluish hair since he arrived at the academy; each one of them had the unusual color naturally.

"I think Kurumu-san is visiting someone" Shizuka said as she tapped her chin.

-Kurumu-

The busty blue haired succubus closed the door behind her and sat in the chair next to the bed. The only sound in the room was the steady breathing of the one on the bed that was almost drowned out by the beeps of the heart monitor. She had found the mysterious person a couple days after Tsukune died and would normally visit at the end of every day.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit yesterday;" she said in a sad tone "the campus was attacked during lunch and Mizore and I got kidnapped. Shinigami were mentioned by the guy that had us kidnapped; I know I shouldn't be surprised that they exist, but few have ever really seen one. The stories my mother told me as a little girl, of powerful spiritual beings that protected the balance of the world, are true; I guess it's just a bad way to find out. My kidnappers saying that there was no chance of a counter attack if Jagerjaquez-sensei would've been killed by that blonde woman."

She knew it was pointless to wait for a response from a coma patient, but she always hoped this person would reply and have a conversation with her. Right now she could use someone that didn't think she was crazy to talk to; this person was probably the only one on campus that would be able to give her an honest answer about what was going on. First Moka kept things from them since she was put in the infirmary after getting a beating from someone or something. Then everything just seemed to become cloaks and daggers like; Ruby not telling her about the strange masked creatures, Eiyu always being extremely careful with his words, Rangiku lying about what species she is, and now even Mizore was hiding something from her.

"Jagerjaquez-sensei had a hole in his stomach;" as she rubbed her knees together with a slight unease "you two must be the same species since you have a hole in your chest. The doctors said it wasn't life threatening, if it affected you at all. When Jagerjaquez-sensei showed his true form, the hole wasn't bleeding at all; even with a piece of his spine missing, he was able to use his legs. I wonder if you two know each other because of the numbers you two have…" she let a tear run down her face "I keep finding more and more questions, but no one to answer them" pulling her knees to her chest "I just want someone to give me answers. I want to know if Eiyu is really Tsukune; I feel it in my heart, but…"

She saw his hand twitch at the mention of 'heart'; that word probably had a meaning to him, an important one. Of course, it could have been nothing; just a 'subconscious functions test' as the doctor suggested before.

"You've been here for two months now, and we still have no clue who you are. The doctors are still calling you 'Kurono-san's patient'. You'd think after two months a loved one would've had a missing person's report done, unless… you have no one to miss you. I can't imagine what that would be like; knowing that there's no one that would notice me missing. You must be lonely;" as she grabbed his hand softly.

She wasn't sure if it was true or not, but she felt that holding his hand like this every now and then helped pull him from the coma he was in slightly.

-?-

The Masked King rapped his fingers on the table top as he glared daggers at Fujisaki; the only reason the boy was still alive after losing such an important location was that he was the only one that could make since of Aizen's notes. Miyabi had both disappointed and failed him; normally he would have been killed in the most painful of ways then put on public display as a reminder to everyone else that it would never be tolerated. The black cloaked man cursed Aizen for making his notes so damn cryptic. The sound of finger nails scrapping bone softly echoed through the room as Fujisaki scratched the back of his neck.

"That's going to take some getting used to;" he sighed as he placed the file on the table "I really need to take a break from this; how are things at Fairy Tale?"

"**Your defeat in the yuki-ona village put a serious delay in our plans. You were to ensure that the priestess could not undo what our agents did; yet that Aono brat and some damn woman managed to defeat the army we supplied you. While I don't really care about the loss of the Black Devil, but the village was important. Those eggs were going to drop the barrier and reveal yuki-ona once again to the world; you better hope the rest of the locations aren't compromised."**

"Would it help if I said that there was a possibility of Aono losing control and joining our side?"

This perked The Masked King's interest; Aizen had been keeping an eye on the boy for some reason, and after recent events he understood why. The Aono boy had great potential and while that could be used against them, it could become an asset to them as well. Gyokuro suspected that the boy was Alucard's reincarnation, and after reviewing the images himself he found himself believing it was plausible. He was one of the few that knew Alucard's true reason for wanting to destroy the human race; which was something he swore to keep secret. If the true reason for Alucard's attempt to destroy the human race was found out, Fairy Tale would fall apart at the seams.

All the Aono child would need is the right push and he would become just like the Hell-bent vampire. Finding something that could cause him to go down that path would be hard though. From what he understood, the boy remembered almost nothing from his past; while this could be used in their favor, it could mean disaster if not played out right.

Finding a way to manipulate him would be far easier; even without his memories, he went to great lengths to save his friends. Giving control to his inner ghoul like he did proved that he didn't care what the cost would've been. They could kidnap the S-rank vampire like they planned to do later on, but as long as Aono's shinigami self was in control that wouldn't help them. It was a shame he didn't have a lover they could threaten.

"**How do you plan on making that work?"**

"Not sure just yet, but I'm positive that 'Ghoul' wants nothing more than to kill Akashiya Moka. It makes sense considering everything that Aono has been through. He even told Akua out right that he 'hated her kind';" with a small chuckle "I doubt that he truly meant that though, he probably just hates Akashiya-san and whenever he sees other vampires it just pisses him off that he couldn't kill her before so he lashes out at them. Someone should go to Yokai to see how the grounds are fairing" absentmindedly.

A Garganta was ripped open in the large room and revealed Harribel as well as a face Fujisaki hadn't seen in a couple of years; Nnoitora. He had believed that the sexist Espada was killed in battle; from the looks of what was left of his shirt and the blood stained bandages, he barely got away. While he wasn't sure if he should be glad the Arrancar was alive or annoyed at the fact, they needed skilled fighters. Nnoitora had amazing skill in wielding his large zanpakuto, but used that skill to become more of a brute than a true warrior; something he often voiced.

"It's been a while, Nnoitora;" he said in a cool tone that reminded everyone of Aizen.

"Whatever;" the mantis Arrancar said in a huff "I'm only here cause yer bitch made me come. So what do ya want?"

"We're shorthanded and you being an Espada, means you're plenty strong; despite your injuries…"

"I found him licking his wounds" Tia interrupted.

"Regardless, I have something in mind you might enjoy. But you might need to make sure he doesn't over do it; Tia" with a scheming grin.

-Ichigo-

The orange haired teen sat with Orihime as they ate a snack on the roof of the academy. While Orihime was healing people in the infirmary, he began to feel like he belonged at a place like this; an academy of creatures that 'didn't exist'. He will always consider himself a human at heart because that's how he was raised, but he couldn't deny that he was half shinigami. The Head Master's assistant, Ruby, had told him that half breeds were looked at even worse than witches and wizards; she gave him a quick explanation that included just about every species trying to 'keep their blood pure'. The only exceptions were succubae and yuki-ona.

Rangiku's friend Ginnei had warned them that they both smelled like humans and anyone with a heightened sense of smell would notice. He also told them having an unusually human scent here would lead to a human hunt considering everything that happened last year. Tsukune was once human, but was injected with blood from Moka to save his life. That explained why Tsukune had a hollow like entity in him; add that to what he already knew about, it was no wonder Ghoul was pissed.

Ginnei reminded him of Kon a bit; only he knew when to back off with advances on the busty fuku-taichou. Thinking back on it, Rangiku is practically Orihime's sister; so maybe he should give the 'hurt her I'm coming after you' threat. He was pretty sure that Toshiro would give that threat once he finds out.

"How long do you think Aono-kun will be gone?" Orihime asked.

"If I had to guess," as he scratched his head "till tomorrow; at least. If he has to go through what I went through to be taught how to control my hollow, it might be longer knowing how crazy Hiyori is."

"She's not that bad;" Orihime said.

Ichigo let out a small sigh; Orihime always gave people befit of the doubt even when they've shown they don't need it. Of course, he had little room to talk at the moment. Grimmjow had tried to kill him three times, nearly succeeded the first two, yet he had asked Orihime to heal the Arrancar before he left Las Noches to face Aizen. And while him and Grimmjow butted heads every now and then, they were slowly becoming good friends.

"I guess she's not once you get to know her;" he admitted.

Orihime's head turned in a random direction as she felt something weird; dark, powerful, and the last part was hard to describe. It bothered her on a level that was similar to how Hueco Mundo first bothered her; whatever it was, it felt like it was ancient. This didn't go unnoticed by Ichigo though.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone with dark reiatsu just came on campus;" as she pointed in the direction she felt it "it's slowly coming towards us."

-Across campus-

Hushed whispers were carefully spoken as a man with wiry black hair walked through the crowd that was moving out of his way. His clothing resembled that of a black pre-colonial suit, a royal knight style sword with black grip and sheath at his side, facial hair neatly trimmed and kept as a short beard, and blood red eyes that looked like they could pierce through anyone. Everyone's best guess was that he was very rich and high up in the Yokai world to wear clothes like he did. The man didn't need to say a single word to somehow put the fear of God into everyone around him; his Youki did that for him.

He didn't seem amused about something as his eyes combed through the vast crowd around him. His eyes just barely skimming the faces, for not even a second, as his head barely moved. The faces didn't blur in his vision; no, not with how long he has lived and how much he has seen. He could pick out a face among thousands in active combat with little hesitance; this was like child's play to him. Looking over the faces of those that wouldn't even be classified as infants in his eyes that only gawked at him in awe and unease. He was looking for someone in particular, a couple someones; mainly because he had a few choice words he wished to express to all of them.

Why he wasn't informed about what was happening on the campus was a mystery to him, but he intended to discover the reasoning for it. He was well aware of what the creatures that have been attacking the campus are capable of. Not many living beings could harm spiritual creatures like that, let alone rival that sort of power. Only a few weapons of legend could harm a Hollow or shinigami, and only three species could muster the physical strength to hold a bake-bake bat to duel one. These Hollows were something that Tenmei should have known to take the necessary precautions for.

"Good to see it's not a Hollow" he heard.

He didn't need to even try to tell that the one who said that had shinigami powers, but reeked of half blood filth. The boy's reiatsu was flowing from him at a barely controlled rate, that told him whomever it belonged to had little control over their reiatsu. When he turned he saw a boy with a shinigami uniform, orange hair, and a butcher knife looking zanpakuto strapped to his back. While the boy looked to be the one he heard stories of, he doubted that this was the "Hero of the Winter War" that everyone was making a big deal over.

"Remove yourself from my sight half-bred filth;" he said in a demanding tone.

Ichigo remained unfazed by the comment; he's been called worse, much worse. One thing he noticed was everyone around him suddenly eyeing him with a dirty look.

"I said 'remove yourself from my sight';" the man ordered again "or are you too stupid to understand that simple order?"

"I heard you;" Ichigo replied "I just don't care what you want me to do. I'm here doing my job; what are you doing here?"

"I don't need to answer filth like you;" as he walked pass him "your mixed blood tells me you are either nothing more than the product of a rape or your mother was but a whore."

He spun around and drew his blade the moment he felt the boy's reiatsu flare wildly to block the attack that was coming towards him. The boy was seething with rage; so much so that it could be felt in his reiatsu, blade and seen in his eyes. When their blades collided, reiatsu exploded from Ichigo as he tried to push the man back but to no avail; this man had more physical strength than he thought.

"You are a fool to think you can overpower me;" as he began pushing the half breed back with ease "you are but a half-breed and have no hope of ever equaling me in strength. Allow me to demonstrate;" with a mere flick of his wrist he sent the orange haired boy flying across the court yard.

Ichigo crashed through several groups of students, sending them flying in different directions as he continued to go through the cafeteria wall; Zangetsu lay on the ground before the wall. The substitute shinigami felt blood run from his head as he pushed a table off him and pulled a large splinter out of his shoulder. He hadn't been hit like that in a while, mainly because he was caught off guard.

"You're still able to stand?" the man said "I held back far too much; you won't last long should you insist on continuing this beating."

Ichigo didn't reply; he only Shunpo to his zanpakuto, picked it up, and continued to attack the man that insulted his mother. Reiatsu streaked through the air as he swung his blade at the man with dark reiatsu. Sparks seemed to fly through the air as the two blades met and drug across each other while their wielders had aggression written on their faces. It didn't take a succubus to see the source of aggression; the teen because his opponent had insulted his mother, the man because his opponent was actually forcing him to back step to maintain stable footing.

The older students could feel that the black haired man was a vampire; not just any vampire either. This man had a feeling around him that seemed to strike fear into everyone, or just about everyone, around him. The vampire could easily be an elder of the vampire race based off his youki alone; yet this half-bred was fighting him on almost equal grounds. Ripples were felt through the air as the two blades would meet, many of the lower class Yokai were forced to the ground because of the overwhelming pressure these two were unconsciously putting on everyone, and several of them had passed out.

-Fuhai-

The old master of summons looked up from his manga as he felt the reiatsu of the substitute shinigami along with that of an old acquaintance. He closed the book and set it next to his tea before walking towards the door. Just by feeling the substitute shinigami's reiatsu he could tell what the fight was about; his old acquaintance said something he was going to regret yet again.

"I wish he would have learned after his beatings from Tensa" Fuhai said as he met up with Tenmei.

"**That would make things too easy for us;"** the Chairman complained **"and we both know why he hates half-breeds so much. He hardly kept it subtle."**

The small old man let out a growl/sigh noise that showed how annoyed he was at the memory. It wasn't that he was jealous, not in the slightest; he didn't like how others took to friendship between Tensa and Akasha. The two were the closest of friends, everyone could see that, and he was happy for them; especially for Tensa. Twenty years, that's how long he had known the half-bred vampire before he learned the most haunting thing from the tall man's past. The story brought tears to his eyes, tears he never thought he would shed; tears of sorrow.

-Ichigo-

The substitute shinigami dodged a punch with a flash of shunpo; his opponent was hardly landing any hits, but he wasn't doing much better. The students that had been watching started running after he fired a Getsuga Tensho at the red eyed man not too long ago. Now he was just getting annoyed that he couldn't hit the man.

"Is this all you are capable of?" the man asked in a condescending tone as he showed a cross pendant that was under his jacket "I'm still giving you the chance to walk away half-bred trash; I advise you take it."

"Not even close;" as the ribbon on his zanpakuto wrapped around his arm "BANKAI!"

Dust flew into the air as reiatsu exploded from the teen yet again. Before the dust could settle, the vampire was on the defensive as his eyes barely caught the image of a thin black blade coming towards his face. Metal clanged as the older combatant was forced backwards and then thrown as the orange haired teen flared his reiatsu while pushing harder. Digging his feet into the ground, he managed to skid to a stop before meeting a wall; this boy's strength had caught him off guard and wasn't going to let it happen again. The boy vanished without using shunpo and reappeared behind him bringing down his sword.

"It will take more than that to bring me to even my knees;" as he spun around and kicked the orange haired teen in the face.

Ichigo caught himself and continued to attack using guerilla tactics; similar to when he fought Byakuya only with far more aggression. Immediately attacking and vanishing, leaving his opponent little time to react or gain the offensive. While the spectators were seeing after images of him, he could tell his opponent was following _him_; his eyes were sharper than any of his previous opponents. Each attack was blocked with only small changes in his footing.

Sparks flew as zanpakuto clanged against physical weapon and the stalemate continued as ripples were sent through the air after every block. Walls were damaged or completely destroyed as a result of the ripples or combatants colliding with them.

"Is this all you possess?" the man taunted "advance towards me you piece of filth!"

He pushed more reiatsu into his shunpo and got even faster; that was all he needed to get under his guard and make a cut long the red eyed man's shoulder. That one wound was enough to throw the man completely off as Ichigo made numerous cuts on the man in a matter of seconds. He could feel his blood boiling red hot even though he had mad near countless wounds; what started as an investigation turned into an almost full-scale battle. And each time he added to the number of wounds on his opponent, he only seemed to want to keep going; to kill the man.

As he brought his sword down, he forced his opponent's weapon from his hand and held the tip of his blade to his throat. His very core was screaming at him to slit his throat; make him bleed to death in a slow and painful manner.

"Ichigo," he heard from the crowd "please stop."

He looked back and saw Orihime with a look he knew; it was the same scarred look that she had when he fought Grimmjow with his hollowfication. She was terrified by the thought that he could have been losing himself in a battle that had only hate as the reason for it.

"We're done;" Ichigo said as he lowered his blade and walked to his girlfriend.

The murmurs and hushed whispers were mute to his ears as he felt deep guilt for nearly succumbing to thoughts that he normally didn't have; thoughts that he would swear only belonged to his hollow. If the busty healer hadn't been there, he was sure that he would've killed the man. He had never felt anger like that before, and he hoped he never had to again. Even after Aizen had threatened the safety of his friends and family he kept a cool head, but no one had ever dared to insult his mother like that. Pain suddenly shot through his chest.

"Only turn your back to a corpse;" he heard the man seethe in anger as he tossed Ichigo aside.

Orihime cried in horror as a thud seemed to echo through the crowd. Before anyone could think to grab hold of her, she ran towards Ichigo and shot out Ayame and Shuno in an attempt to heal Ichigo. Just before the fairy-like beings could make their dome, the man that struck Ichigo down snatched Ayame out of the air and began to squeeze her. Shuno began begging the man to let his comrade go.

"Father!" Moka cried out "Let Orihime heal him."

"Mind your tongue Moka;" he said "this creature is only half-bred filth not even worthy of existing."

Hearing this angered the healer; this man knew nothing about Ichigo, knew nothing about what he had done, and was claiming that he wasn't worth living. Without thinking, she fired Tsubaki at the man; the small fairy creature was moving faster than a rocket while shining brighter than a neon light. Even though everyone's eyes were locked on the scene before them, no one saw the man now identified as Moka's father swing his blade at the fairy-like creature effectively cutting one of the wings off. The next thing the busty healer knew she was on the ground with her cheek throbbing in pain as if it had just been broken.

'_**OH HELL NO!'**_

"You should lea…"

Before he could finish, a hand was on his face and he had been launched from standing over the human that attacked him. No one had handled him like that in many centuries; the very thought of it happening again sickened him. Everyone watched as the man bounced across the grounds in a far from graceful manner; their eyes slowly looked back to where he was once standing to see the teen that had been fighting him standing in an aggressive manner.

"**You insult my mother,"** as black reiatsu poured from him as he looked up with yellow colored eyes set in black **"then you strike my Queen. I'm gonna rip ya limb from limb!"**

-Kurumu-

The succubus was about to leave the patient that had been called hers when the heart monitors started going crazy. She looked back to see his hand was clenching the sheets in a death grip that had quickly ripped the fabric. Then she was hit with a powerful pressure that forced her to her knees and made it difficult to breathe. She suddenly felt something from the comatosed man; something she could only describe as pure fear of whomever, or whatever, was causing the pressure that was keeping her on the floor.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Yokai Encyclopedia

"Today I will add to my earlier entry on vampires;" Kurotsuchi said as he turned on the screen "as I said before, their strength is substantially greater than that of other Yokai species. If a vampire truly wanted to, they could potentially kill a human with a single blow. Their vision is also far sharper than even werewolves; shown here how this vampire easily kept track of Kurosaki throughout the entire fight."

The screen showed Ichigo's attacks getting blocked even while using bankai; causing the taichou to snicker.

"Their strength varies with age, experience in battle, and even blood lines;" showing a family tree "the most powerful of vampires are those of the Shinso blood line which is…"

The door getting kicked in stopped him in midsentence.

"Who the hell; wait… you're Ao…" was all he got out of his mouth before a foot was placed on the side of his head and he went flying through the camera equipment.

"No spoilers;" a woman's voice was heard just before everything failed.


	34. Chapter 34

Black reiatsu engulfed Ichigo as the surrounding students had the wind knocked out of them from the pressure he was exerting. No one could look up from the ground as they struggled for every breath they could manage to get. The pressure forced nearly every student to pass out, those that were lucky enough to still be conscious as the pressure gradually let up saw what could only be described as a horned demon from hell with long orange hair that went to the owner's ankles, matching hair collar-like tuffs were barely noticeable under the cloak, and the mask was bone white with two black lines running down it. Where the half breed once stood now stood something that looked like one of the creatures that had been attacking the campus; that creature let out a terrifying roar that shattered windows all across the campus grounds.

Moka's eyes shook as she felt her very core tremble in fear that the roar caused her; whatever had just possessed Ichigo had just man-handled her father like it was nothing. Her father was the strongest of living vampires and he had just been thrown across a great distance with minimal effort. The last person that could match her father for strength was her mother, but that was a long time ago.

The fabric that covered his shoulder was suddenly blown off by a powerful blast of air. The now demon-like Ichigo merely looked down at the area then up in the direction it came from; her father in the distance. Ichigo extended his hand and his blade came flying into his grasp; he let the momentum carry his arm up and to the side as the black reiatsu became visible around the blade. After a powerful swing, the black reiatsu was launched from the blade towards the one that harmed his queen; angled just right to miss those that were on the ground.

Issa raised his blade to block the attack, only to feel a hand against the side of his head and see everything go sideways; out of the corner of his eye he saw the thing his opponent became. He raised his blade to strike it, but the creature grabbed his arm and slammed his face into the ground as they continued to fly through the air. He could feel skin peel from his face, neck and shoulder as his opponent continued to make a trench with his body; even with his limiter removed was standing little chance against the thing his opponent had become.

Hollow Ichigo brought the vampire up from in the dirt and threw him across the campus creating a small sonic boom. Now that Kingy had somewhat sacked up and was dating Orihime, he wasn't about to let someone harm what was his. He was going to make a point to everything in the area; don't touch what's mine.

-Rangiku-

"Let me breathe;" Ginnei nearly shouted as he came up for air again.

He was thankful that Rangiku was helping him get rid of the fleas, but she was nearly drowning him in the process. She might have been new to the concept of giving a flea bath but he had hoped she knew that holding the one with fleas underwater wouldn't work. The chlorine was great at killing fleas, but it took a little more than basic chemical warfare and drowning to kill all of them. Sure soaking in the pool for an hour or so would kill pretty much all of them, but then what about the eggs that hadn't hatched yet?

"Sorry;" as she rubbed the back of her head "I just want the fleas gone so we can go out tonight, like we had talked about."

When Rangiku finally told Ginnei part of what was going on, she promised that they'd go out and she'd tell him more about what was actually happening. The werewolf had a general idea of what was going on, but he still needed to know more; she didn't want him to be ill prepared. She looked in the distance and wondered if she should make it a double date by dragging Ichigo and Orihime along. The thought of explaining this to Ginnei made her nervous, and also brought the thought of him not talking to her anymore to her mind.

"I promised I'd…"

The locker room building practically exploded as the two were nearly forced under the water by a dark pressure. As the dust cleared, they saw a man barely block the blade from a masked creature only to be kneed in the gut and thrown across the pool. Ginnei's eyes shook as he felt the power difference between the two combatants; the vampire didn't stand a chance. He felt Rangiku's hand grab his and squeeze tightly as the look on her face suggested something.

"It can't be…" as her body trembled in fear "that's… it's Ichigo and he's…"

The sound of scrapping claws against cement could be heard as hollowed Ichigo walked towards the pool; Rangiku shunpo out of the pool and in front of him.

"**Out of my way;"** he warned.

"You…" shaking "you need to stop… What would Orihime think?"

"**If ya knew what he did ta my queen,"** as he flared his reiatsu at her **"you'd be smart enough ta get outa my way."**

His eyes shot back towards his opponent and he pushed the shinigami aside just in time to take another blast to his torso. His claws dug into the cement as he grinned sadistically underneath his mask; there was more power in that attack. Something was different now. He sonido next to his opponent and landed a powerful punch in his ribs that launched him towards what looked like a gym.

"Rangiku;" Ginnei called out as he jumped out of the water and over to her "are you ok?"

"Hai, but whoever that other guy was, he won't be. That was Ichigo's hollow; Orihime said that he's ridiculously powerful. I had thought it was just her exaggerating like always, but…" as she looked at the clouds of dust that grew "he's a Vasto Lorde."

"Vasto Lorde?"

"The most powerful of the Hollow evolutionary chain; to sum it up, not something you want to piss off."

-Seireitei-

A member of the Twelfth Division burst through the sou-taichou's doors going as fast as he could.

"Sou-taichou; the scanners are going off the charts. Kurosaki Ichigo has lost control to his hollow and causing massive amounts of destruction at Yokai Academy. He's fighting someone that our scanners identified as Shuzen Issa."

"Deploy Abarai-fuku-taichou at once!" the sou-taichou ordered.

The sou-taichou was still recovering from his fight against Aizen and Retsu had yet to clear him to go into the field; that left only Renji who knew the necessary kido spell to force the hollow back into submission. He'd smile at how much Retsu had grown in the past five hundred years if the matter at hand weren't so serious. He knew that Ichigo's hollow was a Vasto Lorde thanks to Orihime's description of the form; he was contemplating praying for the man fighting him at the moment despite his discrepancies towards him.

-Yokai Academy-

The ancient vampire was having issues standing on his own feet as he watched the hollow his opponent became walk from a hole in the wall that he created. His breathing heavy, face was almost non-recognizable at this point, his left arm hung limp at his side, and pain had been shooting through his legs as if he had numerous fractures in every bone; all this happened after his limiter had been removed. This half bred trash was handling him like a rag doll and that was unacceptable.

He took a step forward only to find a hand placed on his face and to be going skyward in no time. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the hollow was carrying him upwards; he feared what was about to come. The hollow began to twist its body and then used that momentum to fire him towards the ground like a rocket; breaking the sound barrier and nearly causing his eardrums to explode. When he slammed into the ground a football field sized crater formed around him, he had thought the worst was done; he was wrong.

A clawed foot found a place on his chest in a downward motion causing him to cough up blood. Over him stood the hollow; its piercing yellow eyes showing exactly what was planned for him, death. In the not far off distance he could hear his daughters trying to fight someone so they could attempt to aid him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue haired man holding back Moka and the orange haired human and a shinigami with a Fourth Division pack on his back attempting to keep Kokoa back. His eyes refocused on the creature above him.

It lowered its horned head and began to charge a white cero; he had never seen a cero of that color before and knew that the colors went by power levels. The reiatsu based attack began as a small bead visibly pulling energy from the air, turning it white as it got closer, and grew to almost the size of a basketball.

'_Please don't do this'_ Hichigo heard Bloodriver plead _'he's the father of my daughter.'_

'_**He insulted my mother'**_ he retorted _**'stabbed us through the back after we said the fight was over, and then HE HAD THE BALLS TA STRIKE MY QUEEN! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON TO LET THIS BASTARD LIVE!"**_

Hichigo pushed down harder on his opponent's chest causing him gasp for air again; rage flared in his eyes as the cero gradually became larger.

'_Would you think your mother would want this?'_

His eyes went wide.

'_Would your mother want you to do something like this, justified or not? Look at the anger you were born from, is it not the anger towards hollows for taking your own mother from you? I beg you, please don't cause such anger to be born in my daughter; please"_ swearing he could hear tears falling from the woman's face.

As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. It was his king's anger towards hollows for taking his mother from him and the grief of feeling so useless and unable to protect her that what caused him to first take shape. Kingy refusing to accept his killer instincts after gaining shinigami powers is what made him fully manifest. Underneath his mask he felt something cold roll from his eyes.

He stopped charging the cero and let it dissipate back into the reiatsu it was formed from. When it was completely gone, he removed his clawed foot from the vampire's chest and walked away. He was feeling something alien to him; something that wasn't rage, anger, killer instinct, or even just blood lust. His eyes were drawn to his Queen as he walked away from his opponent and in her direction. This feeling was driving him to find comfort; not the physical comfort he often joked about, but true emotional comfort.

Orihime felt the sudden change in Ichigo's reiatsu and looked back to see his Hollowified form walking towards her. She started to walk towards him as well, but felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, Jagerjaquez-san;" she said softly "I think… I think it's alright now."

Grimmjow let go of her shoulder and carefully watched her as she approached the Vasto Lorde. He was glad he never had to face this side of Ichigo in Las Noches; if he had there'd be little left of him. The human woman had told him what happened to Ulquiorra; the depressed punk was man handled like he was nothing more than a Numeros. He didn't want to think about what the Vasto Lorde could do to a human.

"**Are you alright; my Queen?"** Hichigo asked as they were only six feet apart.

"Hai;" as she got a little closer "Shuno and Ayame healed me not long after they fixed up Tsubaki."

Hichigo carefully put the back of his fingers against her cheek so not to damage her flawless skin. He half expected her to flinch at his touch, but she didn't; she cupped his hand with her own and gently rubbed her cheek against his fingers. Cracks began to form in his mask as he tenderly brought her hand to where his mouth was. He could tell she was nervous, but she trusted him. His mask crumbled to the ground just as her knuckles were about to make contact to the bone-like material. The white skin of his face completely visible to her and he didn't try to hide the tears that had found their way to his eyes. He gently kissed her hand and pulled her close into a hug.

"**Yer mine;"** he said softly **"and ain't shit gonna happen to ya as long as king and I are around."**

Orihime hugged him back as his hair did like it did last time this happened and became pure reiatsu that filled the hole that was in Ichigo's chest. As his skin turned from the pasty white it was back to the somewhat tanned color it naturally was, Ichigo's legs gave out and she found herself having to lower the both of them to the ground.

"Ichigo" she said with concern.

"Yea?" he said as his eyes cracked open.

Orihime only smiled as she pulled her boyfriend close in relief.

"He can't stay like that;" Ichigo said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

The busty healer nodded and sent Ayame and Shuno to heal the vampire; there was even more damage done to him than what it looked. Punctured lungs, shattered shoulder, broken forearm, fractured skull and leg bones, and many others; she wasn't sure how to feel about being able to treat these wounds. She was glad that she was able to prevent a possible death, but knew the reason for the injuries were a result of his own doing. When the process was done, Ayame and Shuno flew over to her and formed the dome around Ichigo to heal him.

Issa regained consciousness and could feel the human's reiatsu around him; that woman had healed him. Rage boiled in his blood as he felt humiliated for yet a third time today. He quickly got up, grabbed his blade and charged towards the two that were the cause of such humiliation. His experience in battle and age had given him speeds that surpassed many elder werewolves on a full moon and no one was able to stop him. Or so he thought. The ringing of steel clanging hung in the air as a black cloaked person stood between him and his targets. His eyes shook as he recognized the blade and cloak as belonging to only one person.

"Impossible;" was all he could say before the person pushed his blade aside and kicked him back into the crater.

"Instead of being grateful that your life was spared by Ichigo," the person said "you stab him in the back after he declared the fight over. Instead of allowing a healer to treat him after you cut him down, you strike her; causing his inner Hollow to take control. And instead of being thankful he did not blow you away with that cero and asked the same healer you struck to heal you, you attempt to cut them both down. You have lost this battle in many ways, Shuzen Issa," as he pulled his hood down revealing his face "should you attempt to harm them again; you will answer to me. And I will not hesitate to end your existence for the stunts you have pulled."

Everyone stared in awe at the man's facial features; a sharp jaw line, a nose that was just the right size, powerful grey eyes, and eyebrows that were somewhat pinched together from anger. His black almost shoulder length hair fell perfectly even after he pulled his hood off. Many of the girls in the crowd began to drool.

"Half bred trash;" Issa spat as he stood up "how did you survive that day? Alucard should've absorbed your soul."

"The powers that be turned me into a zanpakuto spirit;" as he turned his back to Issa "and if I am trash for being a half breed, what does that make you, one that has been defeated by two half breeds over five centuries apart in time? Do not assume I am unaware of the pain you caused Akasha either; on principle alone I should kill you."

He walked towards the silver haired girl that matched Akasha's description perfectly. Deep down he had always hoped to be the one to father Akasha's children; of course, the chances of that being a possibility no longer exist.

"You have your mother's features;" he said with a small smile "I am…"

"Tensa Zangetsu;" Moka said cutting him off with slight disbelief "mother told me about you. She said you were her best friend."

"We were very close. It occasionally caused issues;" glancing back to Issa "your true strength is still untapped. Given everything that has happened of late, I am surprised you have yet to try training to control the Shinso blood that courses through your veins;" he could see a surprised look on Moka's face "your youki is unrefined and seeping out much like Ichigo's reiatsu was when he first became a shinigami. Or rather, his shinigami nature was brought to light."

A Senkaimon appeared not far from where he was standing; he subconsciously tightened his grip on the blade in his hand. As the doors slid open, his grip relaxed seeing that it was a friend of Ichigo's.

"We will have a conversation later;" as he let his blade dematerialize "for now I must make sure Ichigo's hollow nature isn't going to try anything. Farewell, Akashiya Moka" as he faded back to Ichigo's mindscape.

-Ichigo's mindscape-

When Zangetsu returned he looked over to see a sight that could be considered humorously ironic; Hichigo, a Vasto Lorde and probably one of the only creatures in existence that could take on any Shinso and win, being held like a small child by Akasha, a Shinso and holder of the title Nosferatu. The scene made a small smile find its way to his face.

"I know the irony" Akasha said softly "but he is still a child missing his mother."

"He probably pushed his recovery back several weeks by trashing Issa like that;" Tensa said "the man is lucky you stopped him."

Akasha didn't say anything as she gently stroked Hichigo's long hair.

-Yokai Academy-

"You cause issues everywhere you go;" Renji said as he shook his head.

"It's not my fault;" Ichigo retorted.

"Yea right;" as he sheathed his blade "can't even go a month without causing problems."

"I can't go a month without some dumbass trying to start something;" with a smirk "I think you were the first person that trend started with too."

Before they could start arguing, a group of students dressed in black suits approached what was once a battlefield. At the front of the group was a blonde haired male that seemed to have a certain air about him; it made Ichigo feel uneasy.

"What's going on here?" he demanded to know.

Ichigo stood up after the dome around him disappeared; Tsukune had told him enough to know who was who around here. The person in front of him was Kuyo, head of the Safety Committee, and wasn't someone many people challenged. Not only was this individual strong for a living being, he was a Youko, a demi-god in his own right, that had five tails at only the age of seventeen.

"I was provoked into a fight;" he answered.

"That half breed trash attacked me;" Issa said as he stood up "I demand you arrest him and his human…"

Ichigo shot him a look that advised the man to be careful with his next words; luckily that wasn't needed.

"**That won't be necessary;"** the Head Master said **"Kurosaki Ichigo and Inoue Orihime are under my protection while they are here. Ichigo is going to be covering for Kenpachi Eiyu while he is on an assignment I sent him on."**

"You never learn do you Issa;" Touhou said with a steady exhale of smoke "know when you are beaten and when to keep your mouth shut. I would hate for this hero's allies to learn of this. And you know very well that he is, in fact, the same Kurosaki Ichigo that was named Hero of the Winter War; Hades Lords have been quite good about keeping our ears to the ground about what is considered supernatural for even Yokai."

"**Yamamoto has already sent me aide to deal with the Hollows until I am able to repair the barrier to its prime state; a simple phone call would have sufficed. And the human woman has an ability that rivals that of a god and is dating the Hero of the Winter War; who infiltrated the Seireitei with only four others, defeated a taichou and six fuku-taichou without bankai, defeated another taichou with bankai because he wanted to save a friend, stood against the Bountos because they were planning to destroy the Seireitei, infiltrated Las Noches, a place not even we would attempt to attack, because they kidnapped his current girlfriend, and has an attack that is so powerful it turns the sky black and silence is all that can be heard for miles. You expect me to have them arrested, when they aren't even students at my academy, simply because you had your pride handed to you on a platter? Let me know how that works out for you;"** with a chuckle **"I should have a coffin lying around in the attic somewhere."**

Moka and Kokoa were in a state of complete disbelief; not only did their father lose in battle, but he was being laughed at by the Head Master. No one had ever laughed at him before; no one was brave enough to even think about it.

"**No harm is to come to either Kurosaki Ichigo or Inoue Orihime;"** Tenmei ordered the Safety Committee **"they are my guests. As for the battle"** as he looked back to Ichigo and Orihime **"I want you two to have a good evening"** as he handed them a credit card **"don't go too overboard."**

Before Ichigo could ask a question, the Head Master vanished via seal teleportation. He looked at the card and wondered what 'overboard' was in this man's eyes; he knew there was a major price difference between the Soul Society and the world of the living, but was there a difference between the world of the living and here? Orihime looked at him then back to the card in his hand.

"SHOPPING TIME!" Rangiku cheered as she grabbed Orihime and the card and then dragged her away.

Ichigo sweat dropped as he shunpo back to his body; as he reentered his body a slight stiffness came to his physical muscles. He had never returned to his body so soon after a fight like that, he made a note to ask Urahara about it the next time he saw the man.

-Rangiku-

"Which store should we go to first?" the fuku-taichou asked as she dragged her friend behind her "let's ask the other girls if they want to go too!"

Orihime only smiled as her friend led her on a figurative treasure hunt for the ones she mentioned. They found them one by one; Yukari was in the library looking for a new spell and eager for a break, Mizore had been discovered by Orihime and said she had nothing better to do, Moka was in no mood to talk to her father and agreed, Kokoa said she'd catch up back at the dorms, which only left Kurumu who was still nowhere to be found. After agreeing on a time to meet outside the dorms, they split up. Rangiku took her friend upstairs to her room.

"Details; now" she demanded as she closed the door.

"Wha…what are you talking about Rangiku-chan?"

"How'd it finally happen?"

"Well…" with a blush.

The fuku-taichou's eyes went wide; Orihime wouldn't just do that. Given she's had an obsession with the teen for a while, but to do what she was thinking; it was out of character for her.

"You're a good girl Orihime! Why would you just give him the goods right off the bat?!"

"WHA…?!" as her face turned a deeper shade of red "it's not like that Rangiku-chan. I swear! We bumped into each other as he was leaving the bathroom and I knocked him to the ground; we sorta…" as she poked her index fingers together "just made out."

Rangiku rubbed the back of her head somewhat ashamed of the acquisition she just threw at her friend. She should have known better than to think the healer would do that; no matter how obsessed the girl was. Ok, she felt really guilty for acquiescing her friend of giving up something most women consider precious.

"Sorry," with a sheepish laugh "I still want details. Not just an overview either."

-A few minutes later-

"And he came off as someone that had control of his hormones;" Rangiku said before seeing Orihime's face swell a little in annoyance "I'm only teasing. It wasn't exactly romantic, but definitely original; I'm glad you finally snagged him" with a grin.

The busty healer had a small blush on her face as she smiled slightly; she was glad they were finally going out too. It only took the near destruction of Karakura Town and being nearly naked together to even kiss. Rangiku told her of the various stores that were in the mall within the barrier; she even told her about the incidents that happened on their first couple days. The fight with a guy named Saizo, getting tackled in the mall, and every other little thing that piled up.

"And after Tsukune…" Rangiku tried to continue but noticed a look on Orihime's face "what's up Orihime?"

This snapped the teen out of her daze and caused her to panic a little while insisting everything was fine. The busty fuku-taichou was having none of that though; it was the first time they've seen each other in weeks and she didn't want her friend hiding anything. After a little figurative arm twisting Orihime finally cracked.

"Do you remember a few weeks ago when Rukia-chan got back from a deployment?"

"Even though it was advised she shouldn't go? Yea I remember that she ended up in the Fourth Division infirmary immediately after with some nasty gashes on her back."

"The reiatsu that was in the wound was dark and didn't feel like a normal Hollow's; there was something different about it. I told Unohana-taichou about it and she said she'd keep an eye on Rukia just in case."

"Did something happen to her?"

"No. It's just…" as she bit her lip.

"Come on, what is it?"

"I'm certain I felt the same reiatsu coming from Aono-kun before he left to train with the visoreds."

Rangiku thought about how Rukia described the Hollow that had injured her; it was massive, standing taller than Komamura-taichou, black with wings that were powerful enough to knock a squad of unseated shinigami to the ground with a single flap, had a long scorpion like tail, it's form was somewhat humanoid but at the same time was slightly deformed with tendril like tubes around its arms and legs that resembled muscle, a mask that looked like it was from a horror film, and, the strangest thing, it didn't have hole. From how she described it many people thought it was an Adjuchas class, but Rukia insisted that it wasn't. The seated officer that was in charge of the squad had been killed by the creature, so it was natural for people to assume that.

The thought that Tsukune, of all people, was once the thing that had injured Rukia and killed a seated officer was something to laugh at. When Soifon and Kenpachi first found the boy he was barely handling his own. Right now Tsukune might actually be able to take on a seated officer, but as of a couple weeks ago that wasn't even a possibility as far as she was aware.

"I'm sure you're just imagining things;" as she rubbed her friend's head before looking at the clock "we need to head down to meet up with everyone. Remember, they can't know Tsukune is really Tsukune; he's Kenpachi Eiyu here."

Orihime nodded as she got up and followed the shinigami down stairs. She had hoped she was just imagining that the reiatsu coming from Tsukune was the same as whatever attacked Rukia. Once they were down stairs they found Mizore, Yukari and Kokoa already waiting at the benches; Yukari had her nose in a book from the library, Mizore was just sitting, and Kokoa seemed to be irritated about something. Mizore looked in the distance and saw Kurumu slowly walking towards the dorms.

"Kurumu," she said as the succubus got close "we're heading to the mall. What to come with?"

"No tha…" before she could finish the yuki-ona had frozen her legs on a sled like block of ice "what the hell?!"

"I'm tired of you just mopping around;" as she grabbed the handle "I only asked as a formality. You're going and that's that."

The succubus was smart enough to keep from fighting; she didn't want to end up as a popsicle. Last time that happened it took forever for her to finally completely thaw out, then there was trying to warm back up.

"Oi;" they heard "Orihime."

"Hey Ichigo;" as she turned to be met by a hug.

"What time do you want to do dinner?"

Orihime tapped her chin; she had no idea how long they were going to be out shopping or where they'd go to eat.

"You two can tag along with Ginnei and me;" Rangiku chimed in with a smile "we're going to eat at The Retreat later tonight."

"Sounds ok with me;" as he looked at Orihime who nodded "meet you back here."

"Take this;" Rangiku said as she handed him the cell phone she was give "I'll call when we get back."

Ichigo gave a small nod as he let go of Orihime; it'd be nice to finally go on a real date instead of just eating together. There was nothing wrong with it, they had gotten a lot closer by having dinners alone, but there just seemed to be something missing. Nel had pointed out that being stuck in Las Noches, a place where the threat of another attack was always there, was probably keeping that romantic feeling from surfacing because of a need to subconsciously be ready at all times.

"Do I need to have a talk with this 'Ginnei' guy?"

A double date sounded like a pretty good idea anyway; he didn't need to worry about completely blowing it if there was another couple there. The one thing he didn't want to deal with though, was someone that wouldn't keep his attention on the person they're out with. He's seen several relationships fall apart because of that at his high school and he didn't want to put Rangiku through it. Especially because of everything that's happened in the past year.

"No, it's alright;" Rangiku said.

"Yes;" Mizore, Yukari, Kurumu, and Kokoa said at the same time in a mix of a monotone and irritated tone.

Ichigo just face palmed as he walked away; this Ginnei guy was probably a raging pervert that needed his ass handed to him from time to time. As he walked he passed Moka, who seemed a little upset, with only an acknowledging head nod. As Ichigo got further away, Moka got closer to the group and was far more upset than she appeared.

"What exactly has been going on lately;" Moka asked as she grit her teeth together "my father just tried to give me a full lecture about these 'Hollow' things and said if I didn't stay away from Orihime and her boyfriend he'd force me back to the mansion. How can someone even have a Hollow in them?"

"They're called Visoreds;" Orihime said softly as she looked away from the group "I'm not sure how the others got theirs, but Ichigo told me his took shape when he was regaining his shinigami powers and nearly failed."

Orihime explained the best she could as they walked to the mall; everyone had questions answered in some form or another. The main focus of the questions were about how Hollows were made. This led Orihime to tell them about her brother and how he became a Hollow named Acidware; everyone had been shocked that simply staying in the world of the living could cause someone to turn into a Hollow.

"The hardest part after that" in a sad tone "was pretending I didn't remember it had happened. I wanted to ask Ichigo and Rukia-chan so many questions but I was afraid to; I didn't get any real answers till almost two months after my brother purified himself."

"You can stop Orihime," Rangiku said as she wrapped her arm around her friend "I think they understand enough for now. Besides, we're at the mall!"

"I guess we are worried Tsukune turned into a Hollow;" Moka said with her eyes to the ground "we all begged him not to leave just before he died."

That day was still fresh in her mind; she had refused to let go of Tsukune's body even after he had been long since dead. Her own pleas still echoed in her mind on some nights. The thought of losing the one person that seemed to understand her, who could see past the raw power and cold stares and see who she really was was painful. Of course, she knew that she put a fate worse than simple death on Tsukune thanks to her blood.

"I said 'we're at the mall' not at a funeral;" Rangiku said as she poked Moka in the side causing her to jump a little "get excited. We don't even have to spend our own money!" as she flashed the credit card the Head Master had given Orihime.

-Ichigo and Renji-

"What a dumbass;" Renji said as they sat in what was left of the court yard "I heard about living beings called the 'Hades Lords' and 'Great Dark Lords' but I never would've thought that one would be so stupid."

Ichigo had just finished explaining why he had lost control of his Hollow and why his Hollow nearly killed the vampire named Issa. While it was easy to see why he'd still be upset about the ordeal, his reiatsu raised a good bit from anger just talking about it. Luckily Renji had reminded him to keep his cool or the sou-taichou might decide it necessary to come himself next time; that was something he didn't want to ever think about, fighting against the old fart himself.

"Are you the Kurosaki Ichigo that supposedly destroyed our locker room at the pool?" they heard.

Ichigo and Renji looked toward the voice and saw a group of girls in bikinis with towels wrapped around their waists. His eye noticed a guy that was tied up in the middle of the group. The one that seemed to have spoken to him looked like she was the one in charge of the group.

"Yea;" as he scratched his head "sorry about that."

"Do you have any idea how long it will take to have that rebuilt?"

"You owe us big time punk."

The half breed just sat there uninterested as they continued to insult him; none of them mentioned his hair color which would've made them hypocrites seeing how only three of them had 'normal' hair colors. He remembered everything that his hollow had done while it had control this time. His fight with Ulquiorra was still a pretty big ball of blur and fuzz.

"Are you paying attention?" one said bringing him back to reality.

"Not really, I kinda zoned out. I've heard just about every insult possible so I usually ignore people that try to insult me" with a shrug "I didn't mean to destroy your locker room it just happened. I can talk to the cloaked guy and see if he could have that fixed first since it's the only building I actually destroyed."

"I told you he was a reasonable guy;" the person tied up said "now can you untie me? I had nothing to do with it; I was only trying to tell you what happened."

"You were peeping on us you pervert!" several of the girls shouted.

"Oi;" Ichigo said as he looked at the guy "you're Ginnei, right?"

"Yup that's me" with a smile "glad to see you remembered my name."

"I'll deal with him;" as he stood up then looked back at Renji "I'll explain later."

"Thank you;" the leader said as she handed the rope to Ichigo "and might I say you have an interesting smell."

"I'm half human," he said point blank as he untied Ginnei "I'll go talk to the guy in the cloak now."

The entire swim club just stood there with a dumbfounded look on their faces as the three men walked away. Each one had the same thought running through their heads as Ichigo and his red headed friend seemed to start bickering about something; a half human took on an adult vampire and won?

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

The girls had finally started having fun trying on various clothes. Kurumu finally seemed less gloom and had a smile on her face, Mizore was sporting her usual small smile that showed she was having fun, Rangiku and Orihime were laughing as they dressed up Yukari and Kokoa in outfits that looked cute which even Moka seemed to have a little fun doing, and Moka herself was shocking everyone as she methodically selected articles of clothing. Every time the silver hair vampire came out of the changing room she had a large smile on her face and seemed to glow as she laughed with her sister and friends about jokes and past blunders as children.

No one dared to bother them since word of who Orihime was had spread like wildfire throughout the school. Not everyone was too thrilled about a human being on campus, but no one wanted to tempt a fight with her boyfriend. That story had spread even faster than Moka's species last year. The mere thought of being in a fight with someone that had man handled an elder vampire was enough to make anyone piss themselves.

"Try this one on Kokoa;" Moka suggested as she showed a dress.

It was a subtle red that was dark enough to let her hair still stand out, had spaghetti straps that were braided together on each side, there was a gentle V-neck in the front that looked like it would leave just enough for someone to have to imagine the rest, and looked like it would go almost to her knees. Kokoa wasn't sure what to think; she wanted to try it on because her Onee-sama had picked it out, but didn't want to continue to play dress-up for everyone. She let out a small growl as she grabbed the dress from her sister and went into the changing room.

A few moments later Kokoa came back out dawned in the dress her sister had picked out; everyone just starred at the sight. The fabric hugged her still developing form perfectly at the hips and chest, there was plenty of room left in the mid-drift to allow her to wear it for a while even as she grew, and the V-neck kept more of her covered than Moka had thought. There was only one thing wrong though. Moka walked up to her sister and removed the ribbons from her hair causing it to fall naturally down. This caused everyone to nearly jaw drop; they never would've thought Kokoa, of all people, could look like she could rival Kurumu in appeal.

"You should definitely get it;" Yukari said causing Kokoa to blush "that Hanataro guy won't know what hit him."

A tick mark appeared on the younger vampire's forehead as she grabbed Kyo and made him change into a non-lethal broom. Before she could swing it though, Moka had grabbed the handle while it was reared back. This caused Kokoa to look at her sister in confusion.

"Change back into your own clothes first;" with a chuckle "that's the last one in that size and the closest one in a bigger size is three sizes up."

The small vampire just stomped into the changing room and almost slammed the door behind her.

"Thanks for saving me Moka" as she hugged the older vampire "I'm not sure I'd be able to take a beating from her."

"But I didn't do it to save you;" with a smirk "that really is the last one in that size. I just think it looks really nice on her and don't want to risk it getting ruined."

"Then…" as she stepped away from Moka "that means…"

The sound of the lock popping free on the door suddenly seemed louder than it really was and the door creaked open; revealing a furious Kokoa wielding the broom yet again. In no time Yukari took off running.

"I'm gonna kill you for starting that rumor you little brat!" Kokoa shouted as she chased after the small witch.

The entire group burst into a fit of laughter as the comical scene unfolded in front of them.


	35. Chapter 35

Author's Note:

I'm going to say this bluntly to keep from seeing it in reviews later; this is a filler chapter. I wanted to do another slower chapter before things picked up again. It's also going to help me set up a couple things for the future.

On with the story;

Demon.

xxxxxxx

Ichigo woke up with a familiar weight on his arm; the smell of Orihime's shampoo filled his nostrils with each breath he took. Deciding against moving and possibly waking his girlfriend up he just laid in the bed with her body gently pressed against his. The night before lingered in his mind; it had gone far better than he was expecting it to, but when he was worried about royally screwing it up it wasn't hard to get better than expected.

-Flashback-

After talking with the creepy guy that had given him a credit card and making sure that the locker room he destroyed would be rebuilt he told Renji about who Ginnei was. The red haired fuku-taichou was a little surprised and agreed that it was a better idea for Ichigo to talk to the guy before Toshiro tried. That was something that probably wouldn't go over so well since Toshiro was the youngest of the taichou and still looked like an elementary school kid. Renji shunpo away to do a patrol; with how much reiatsu Ichigo's hollow had released it was bound to draw in a few hollows.

"Rangiku invited Orihime and I to go along with you guys to The Retreat;" Ichigo said.

"It's alright with me;" Ginnei said "thanks for letting me know."

"You know Rangiku doesn't have any family right?"

Ginnei's ears perked a little when he heard this; he knew what was about to come. He never would've thought he'd actually get this talk while in high school still. He was expecting to not hear it until he graduated after this year.

"Yea;" as he looked in the distance "she told me that the closest thing she had to a father died about twenty years ago and her current taichou is like a little brother to her."

"Since you know the first part that saves me the trouble;" as he rubbed his shoulder and popped his neck "Rangiku is one of Orihime's closest friends; hell they might as well be sisters at this point. I'm not sure if you know everything that's happened to her in the past year but that's between you two. All I'm going to say about it is," as he turned serious "she's been through enough in the past year and doesn't need any more crap like that happening to her again. Break her heart and you'll have to survive me before her taichou gets to you; he's not exactly someone that's willing to forgive something like that either."

Ginnei nodded; he figured pointing out that he sounded like an actual brother would probably piss the half breed off. It felt weird to be hearing this already, his father said that he hadn't heard it until he had met Ginnei's mother.

"I guess we should just hang out till the girls get done with their shopping spree," Ginnei said as he scratched his head "Rangiku said you've invaded this 'Seireitei' place with only a group of seven people."

"Yea;" with a shrug "it happened over summer break last year."

Ichigo gave the werewolf an overview of what all had happened. Of course he had to start from the beginning; what good was hearing a story if you didn't know how it started? Deciding to start with when he met Rukia, he told him about how the small shinigami introduced him to a completely different world than what he knew. He fought hollows off on a daily basis and improved at a slow rate; then he met Renji and Byakuya which ended in him losing his powers.

After struggling to regain his powers, which is when his own hollow manifested, he gained Shikai and trained for a week to improve his sword skills and learn how to fight against something other than a hollow. Once they were in the Soul Society they had a small misadventure where they had an addition to the group. They had used a canon of sorts to blast into the Seireitei because of the barrier around the military like institution. Once inside it was battle after battle, eventually he obtained bankai and fought against Byakuya again and won; only to have the mastermind of the coup reveal himself.

A few months after that he first met Grimmjow, who had tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. He mentioned that during the fight his hollow had nearly taken over; which caused him to seek out the Visoreds and battle his hollow to control that power. Having gained control of his hollow powers, he trained for a month before he saw the Espada again; that fight was different, Ichigo had the upper hand and would've won if he could've kept his mask on longer.

Eventually he found out that the large scale battle that Grimmjow had been included in was just a cover to get to Orihime. The healer had been kidnapped and labeled a traitor before they even knew was had happened. This led him and a couple friends to go to the hollow home world and invade their capital, Las Noches, to save her. Again, it was battle after battle as they searched for her; when she was finally within grasp, an impossibly strong opponent appeared and nearly killed him. Ichigo skipped what he was still missing from that memory and picked up where the Espada turned to ash and blew away with the wind.

When he returned to Karakura Town, it was actually a fake made by the Seireitei to act as a battle field. Several had been cut down and even his father and mentors laid defeated in the rubble. He spent what was equal to three months time in a type of portal called a Dangai training, when in reality only fifteen minutes had passed. When he emerged from the Dangai, he proceeded to battle the mastermind and nearly lost his shinigami power because of his final attack.

"Damn;" the werewolf said "that was just an overview and it took about an hour. To think, all that in only what ten months?" Ichigo nodded "you're a crazy guy. You and Tsukune must get along pretty well; I know I'm not supposed to know, Rangiku already told me. Originally he was here by mistake, and, from what I've heard, was scared shitless. He tried to leave but he stayed for Moka, everyone kept thinking they were a couple, to be honest they acted a lot like one; both Mokas."

"Both?"

"Moka used to have two personalities;" he explained "the silver haired one you know was the one that was sealed away and only Tsukune seemed to be able to free her. There was once an 'Outer Moka'; she was pretty much the exact opposite of the battle ready one. Gentle, kind, caring, and a bit of a pacifist. After Tsukune's death the outer one just disappeared without a trace; even when the 'Inner Moka' put the rosary back on."

Ichigo scratched his head; it sounded like Moka wasn't too much different than him, two personalities in one body. Luckily they were able to exist without fighting for control like he did most of the time; for now.

"Anyway you want to spin it," Ginnei continued "he overcame his fear of Yokai and became friends with some of the most powerful species. An S-class vampire, a succubus, a yuki-ona, two witches, and me, a werewolf. In only one semester he became the embodiment of what the academy stands for; peace between Yokai and humans. Even when he was going to be executed, several people were against killing him because he was a nice guy despite being surrounded by several that hated what he was. It caused several to rethink what they thought about humans; others just believed he was a vampire because he got credit for defeating Kuyo, even though it was Moka.

After that we had an entirely new adventure dealing with the Outcasts. They nearly killed both Moka and Tsukune in their attempts to 'destroy the academy'; it was just an attempt to show those that weren't of mixed heritage that they were strong. Which led us to discovering someone that actually wanted to destroy the academy as an act of revenge for what happened to him. We managed to stop him after he nearly destroyed the barrier protecting the school; that's when Tsukune died. He gave his life protecting the secret of the existence of Yokai in the world.

I had figured that was the last of the shit we would have had to put up with, but ever since Mizore was kidnapped I'm thinking it was just the tip of the iceberg. That Arrancar woman working with Moka's sisters and that other girl on something that seemed so important means they've probably been working together for a while. Makes me wonder" as he looked at the clouds over head "is what we've been through and what you've been through connected somehow?"

"I hope not;" with a sigh.

-End Flashback-

Ichigo felt Orihime snuggle closer to him as she let a soft snore out; the healer had a great time last night. He had found something out about her too; she was a bit of a risk taker in the realm of public affection. She had often pulled him to the side hallway that led to the bathrooms to make out with him. He didn't complain at all; it was just very unexpected of the usually shy, timid girl that used to stutter a little every time she'd talk to him.

One thing he was thankful for was the fact that his hollow had been quiet all night. It allowed him to really enjoy the double date without needing to have an argument with himself every few minutes because Orihime did something unexpected. First there was her pulling him aside, then there was when she grabbed his butt while they were making out, after that was her downing a large swig of sake, and finally was her making him grab her backside. It was a side of her he wasn't used to seeing, but liked it; a lot.

He felt Orihime roll completely around, pushing him onto his back while doing so. Turns out she had been awake for a little while, there was almost no sleep in the corner of her eyes and she had a smile on her face. She squirmed a little as she readjusted to lean in and then kissed him.

"Good morning;" he said as they finally broke away from each other.

"Morning;" as she slid to his side and rubbed her head against his shoulder "last night was fun."

"I'm just glad you didn't let Rangiku talk you into drinking that entire bottle with her;" with a small chuckle "supposedly only two people can keep up with her drinking."

Orihime didn't respond, but knew that it was the truth; only the flirtatious Eight Division taichou Shunsui Kyoraku and the battle ready Eleventh Division taichou Kenpachi Zaraki are said to have been known to keep up with the busty fuku-taichou. Her arms found their way around Ichigo's midsection; in response Ichigo used an arm to snuggle the healer closer to him. They knew they had to get up, but they both wanted to stay like this for a while longer.

The previous night had gone rather well considering. Ginnei had listened to the full story of what happened last year and didn't look bothered by it; he simply pulled the fuku-taichou close to him and told her 'her pace'. Both she and Ichigo knew what the werewolf meant by that, he was going to be there for her and if something developed to her he'd be ready. Orihime was happy for her friend to find someone like that; of course Ichigo and her were already going at a comfortable pace for themselves.

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire's eyes drifted open to the usual sight of her nearly empty room. The night before she hadn't been alone; Tensa had kept his promise of having a talk later. The two had tea as they became acquainted with one another; she had learned several things starting with how the powerful half breed had met her mother.

-Flashback-

"That is not a short story;" Tensa had warned her.

"We have nothing better to do" Moka retorted.

"Very well;" with a smile "it was nearly seven hundred years ago, I had just finished hunting for food to last the next week or so and it had started raining. I was lucky to have not been cursed with a vampire's weakness to water and was only in a rush to get to my hutch to dry off. On my way, I discovered a pink haired woman in armor feeling the full affects of the rain. Sparks were clearly visible coming from her and she twisted in pain in an attempt to dull it. I never got her name; as I picked her up she passed out as a result of the pain.

After I got to my hutch I dried her off the best I could and hung her armor and clothes up near the fire. When she awoke she tried to strangle me" with a chuckle "I never would have believed that such beautiful eyes could hold such anger and raw fury. Once I managed to convince her I meant no ill will, she let go of my throat. She was still weary of me for the next few days as I tried to treat what looked to be battle wounds and she recovered. It was on the fourth day that she finally told me her name; Akasha Bloodriver.

The following days I had learned much about the vampire culture that had shunned me. The most important part was how many vampires get their surnames. In the older days of vampiric culture, a vampire's surname was a reflection of their first all out battle…"

"How did my mother get the last name 'Bloodriver' then?" Moka interrupted.

"From what she told me," as he looked up at the dyed sky from the setting sun "she took on an army and a river of blood flowed from the battlefield for three days."

"That's… that's not possible…"

"In those days one had to be ruthless in battle;" with a heavy look "I was lucky to meet her while she was transitioning to a less violent personality. Many times we spoke on the matter and every time your mother looked like she deeply regretted what she had done. She was once much like you; very proud of her linage, refused to back away from any challenger, and wouldn't hold back against anyone. Her father and grandfather often told me that I had turned her away from that and they were thankful. Even her great grandfather seemed to be thankful for the transition; even though he never said so verbally."

Moka never would've guessed that her mother had once been so violent. She had only ever known her mother as a peaceful person that didn't want any violence in the house that wasn't training; that was only because a vampire's young years are when there were the greatest leaps in their strength and they needed to learn how to control it. Even then, she would often be ready to treat any injuries that happened; a simple scrape, a bruise, or a deep cut, it didn't matter she was there with a gentle smile and first aid kit.

"How did you get your last name?"

This visibly caught Tensa off guard; that wasn't a story he had told many people.

"It is a story I wish to not reflect on, but since it made me who I am today I often must;" as he took a deep breath "for the first fifty years I knew your mother I was without a surname; I was simply Tensa. I knew my mother's but since I am half vampire my parents never gave me one in order to keep true to the culture; my father was uneasy about it though. It was the night of the full moon; I often enjoyed walks through the woods during such nights.

I came upon a pack of alpha werewolves that were in their heat cycle and preparing to attack a village of witches; unfortunately I had no choice but to slay them. I had lost a lot of blood and passed out; when I woke I was in the care of the villagers I had saved. I had them send a message to Akasha and we spent the next four days there while I recovered. On the second day she had jokingly said 'You slayed the moon, Zangetsu'; at the time I was confused but the witches told me that the pack of alphas had called themselves the ancient werewolf word for moon, I had given up attempting to pronounce it not long after I heard it. The name Zangetsu stuck since every witch and wizard in the village called me by that name."

"So my mother named you?" she blinked with disbelief.

"In a manner of speaking" as he set his tea cup down.

"What can you tell me about the Hollows and spiritual world?" not completely believing what she heard.

"Hollows are creatures born out of grief, anger, or some other negative emotion that prevented a soul from crossing over to the Soul Society. A hole forms in their torso commonly, but Ichigo has come across an Arrancar whom had the hole where an eye should have been. A mask takes shape on their once human like faces, it is believed that the shape of the mask is a reflection of the emotions that caused them to become hollows to begin with. Their physical shape also changes; no one is sure how their physical appearance is determined.

They can only be harmed by a zanpakuto, a Bake-bake bat, a sacred blade, pure Energy of Nature, or condensed spirit particles. Should they be slain by a zanpakuto, a Bake-bake bat, or pure Energy of Nature they will be purified and move on to the Soul Society in their human forms. I do not know much about the Soul Society since I spent five centuries in a form of Limbo waiting for Ichigo's shinigami powers to be awakened. What I do know is that there are a total of three hundred and sixty districts surrounding the Seireitei, the base of the shinigami, split into four regions; North, East, South, and West. Within the Seireitei are thirteen divisions of a military-like institution. Aside from that, there's little I can tell."

"Is my mother in one of the districts?"

"Yes," he lied "and she is happy where she is. She wants to be able to see you some time, but knows that it will be near impossible because only shinigami can travel to and from the world of the living with ease."

Moka looked away from Tensa; a part of her wanted to start crying but the other side was screaming not to. She wanted to cry because if it was really so hard to get to and from the world of the living, then why did her mother come for Eiyu and not her? It didn't make sense to her; then again, little did recently which is why she was talking to Tensa.

"What else can you tell me about hollows?"

"They are separated into three classes;" he explained "Demi-hollows, normal hollows, and Menos. A Demi-hollow is a soul that is attached to a specific place and refuses to move on. Should the soul linger for more than a couple months, their chain of fate will corrode and eventually turn them into a hollow. I am not certain if there is a strength difference between a soul that's demi-hollow and a normal hollow.

Once a soul becomes a hollow, they are overcome with hunger that they can never truly sate. They will devour the souls of nearly anything in sight but often are attracted to those with a higher spiritual awareness. After they consume enough souls, they grow into what is called a Gillian, or Menos Grande; these hollows are considered to be, literally, without personality and also the first level of the Menos class. They stand as tall as skyscrapers and their masks are all the same, but every now and then one hollow will have such a powerful will that it will retain its unique personality and have a different mask.

Should this happen, that individual will continue to eat and grow. They will gain more power with hopes of evolving into an Adjuchas class, the second level of Menos. These hollows shrink in size and become slightly more humanoid and their masks change shape again. Every Adjuchas is still faced with the hunger they had before; so they set out to feast on others.

The final level of Menos is the Vasto Lorde class; these hollow alone hold more power than even a shinigami taichou. They are near perfectly humanoid in shape, and aren't faced with the constant hunger in previous stages, but they still must feed to prevent from regressing to the previous forms. So few exist that they are often just stories of legend. Your mother and I faced one once and I only survived because your mother took many of the hits for me, and she managed survived thanks to her healing ability; we were finally saved by a powerful shinigami, who later became a friend."

Moka took a deep breath as she processed what she had just learned. These hollow creatures that had been attacking were once living people that couldn't move on because of something. They also varied in strength and even had their own classification within their species; much like every race on Earth. They were potentially more powerful than even her mother was when she was alive; that thought was scary. Even more so after what Tensa had just told her; if her mother was given the name Bloodriver because she caused a river of blood to flow from a battlefield for three days and still had trouble fighting against a hollow then how much damage could a group of hollows cause?

"It seems that time has gotten away from us;" Zangetsu said as he finished his tea "is there anything else that you wish to know right away?"

"When Ichigo lost control to his hollow," she said "its form was different than the ones that have been attacking the campus; it looked like it could pass as human in shape. Is his hollow a Vasto Lorde class?"

"Yes; however both he and Ichigo are still greatly weakened because of my final attack. It would have left Ichigo in a completely human state had his hollow not poured more of his reiatsu into the attack. Your father is lucky Ichigo's hollow stopped when he did, even in a weakened state, he would have been blown away by that cero."

Moka subconsciously gulped; a Vasto Lorde that was in a weakened state had manhandled her father, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires alive, with ease. The thought of what that same hollow could do when at full power forced her to redirect her thoughts elsewhere. She knew that Tsukune wasn't amongst the hollows that had been attacking the school; he wasn't even a hollow at all, but the ghoul she had created in him was still there. Based off of what she just learned, a ghoul was essentially the living equivalent of a hollow; the primal need to feast on flesh always constant in one's mind. She knew that Tsukune was among the shinigami, but how long could Tsukune fight off that inner evil that is Ghoul?

"Is it possible that someone who was a ghoul while alive to pass over without possibly becoming a hollow?"

"I have never bothered to look into it;" as he looked into her red eyes "I do not believe anyone has even thought to do such since creating a ghoul is a taboo in every Yokai culture."

The young vampire looked down in shame. Even when she knew what could've happened to Tsukune she preformed the ultimate taboo by giving him her blood. That blood had been slowly killing him since the first injection; it also gave birth to an evil that she never should've forced on him. That kind of power flowing through a human body was not something that many could adapt to even if it was in small doses since birth. She is the daughter of a Shinso vampire who knew almost no equal, and had that blood flowing through her own veins since before she was born; of course her body could handle it.

Tsukune though, a fragile human that was already approaching his prime physical abilities, just the thought of putting that power in him was a laughable idea to a vampire. Looking back at it now, she knew that no matter how she felt about him she shouldn't have put that curse on him. She should have let him just pass on as a human and lived in guilt for the rest of her long, immortal life instead of turning him into a ghoul.

"We should retire for the night;" Tensa said as he stood up "would you like an escort back to your dormitory?"

"No thank you. I…" as she took a deep breath "I want to be alone for a while."

The half breed gave a bow and dematerialized back to Ichigo's inner world.

-End Flashback-

The young Shinso buried her head in her pillow in shame. She had thought learning about hollows and the 'Soul Society', as Tensa called it, would put her mind at ease from what she had done to Tsukune but it only made her feel worse. The once human had pretty much been a hollow since she first injected him with her blood; all because she didn't want to be alone again.

"I'm such a selfish bitch;" she groaned into the pillow.

-Tsukune and Soifon; Visored hideout-

Tsukune opened his eyes and felt a slight weight on his side. His eyes widened as he remembered what had happened before he went to sleep; he had sex with Soifon. The teen knew that it had been completely consensual and there should be no reason to have any fear, but a small part of him was worried about what might happen. He knew she had a temper that tended to be short with some people; Grimmjow, her former fuku-taichou, and even himself on rare occasions.

The weight shifted more to his chest. When he looked at the small taichou he could see she had a little bit of sleep in her eyes but looked well rested. Her usual hardened gray eyes had a softer look to them now and she was sporting a smile as she twisted her body and straddled him before giving him a kiss. He could feel the salt crystals that had formed on her skin as he placed his hands on her shoulders. The petite taichou pulled away from him with a worried look.

"You regret it;" she asked as she looked away from him "don't you?"

"What?"

"You regret having sex with me."

"No;" without hesitation "why would you think that?"

"You didn't kiss back" as she sat up.

"The only think I regret about last night is not telling you how beautiful you are before it happened;" as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her.

"But I'm not;" as she turned her head further away from him.

A vein pulsed on Tsukune's forehead; he hooked one arm under her butt and pulled her snuggly close with the other. An 'eep' escaped from the woman as he got up and walked her into the bathroom. Soifon attempted to protest but Tsukune ignored her as he let go of her bottom and turned on the light, which nearly blinded the both of them. Before Soifon managed to recover from the near blinding, he turned her around to face the mirror and placed his hands gently on her shoulders to keep her in place.

"What do you see?" he asked softly.

After the last blinks to allow her eyes to adjust to the light, she could see clearly see in the mirror. Her hair was a complete mess, her hips were slightly bruised from Tsukune grabbing her, a nipple was starting to show the signs that it might be bruised as well, there was a bite mark on her collar bone thanks to Tsukune, the inside of her thighs were still red, and a bit of Tsukune's fluids had dried to the upper part of her thigh as well.

"I look like a slut" she said bluntly.

"No you don't;" in a firm voice "you look nothing like a slut."

She saw his one arm move to wrap around her waist, effectively covering the bruising and dried fluids, while the other wrapped around her breast covering her cherry sized nipples. While her hair was still a bit of a mess, without the visual of the bruising and dried fluids she didn't look like a slut; she looked like a normal person that had just woken up from sleeping. Tsukune rested his chin on her head as she let the imagine sink in.

"Do you see it yet?" Tsukune asked as he gently pulled her closer "you're real beauty?"

"I'm not beautiful;" as she leaned against his body "I've never even known how to attempt to look beautiful."

Tsukune let go of her torso and used his fingers to straighten her hair out.

"You've never felt a need to;" while wrapping his arm back in place "you don't need to keep wearing the cold mask. While you might be a member of the Onmitsukido and a shinigami taichou, you're a woman too. I want you to remember that;" as he tightly hugged her "at least try to see what I see."

Soifon blushed wildly at what she had just heard. She didn't realize that she had opened up so much to Tsukune in the short time she's known him. He was right though; she had never really had a need to get 'dolled-up' for anything and with the lifestyle that the Onmitsukido lived there was no true need to focus on physical beauty. Even when Yoruichi had tried to get her in-touch with her feminine side, she didn't really try because of her lifestyle.

"There it is;" she heard Tsukune say, snapping her out of her thoughts "no mask. Just you" with a smile as he kissed her neck.

Soifon's sight turned to the mirror and she caught a glimpse of what Tsukune saw before subconsciously putting the 'mask' back on. It was something she needed to work on, for Tsukune, but it was most likely going to be well worth it. She used her hand to turn Tsukune's face towards her and without a word, captured his lips with watery eyes; a smile grew in the kiss as Tsukune hungrily kissed her back. Soifon didn't let the kiss last long and decided to break away.

"We need to clean up;" her cheeks still revealing a blush "the less time we spend away from Yokai Academy the better."

Tsukune nodded before looking at the shower.

"Do you want to shower first?"

"No thanks," as she started to unwrap her braids "I need a little time to undo my braids."

"We should probably decide where we're going to go from here;" as he stepped into the shower.

Soifon looked at her reflection and knew he was right; the only problem was that she didn't think she would be capable of having an actual relationship. Then again she's never bothered to attempt having one. This whole thing was new to her and she was clueless on how to handle the situation. While she could ask Yoruichi for advice, her former mentor had made a point about her needing to become independent from the heiress; using how strong Soifon had become in her hundred year absence as an example every time they had that talk. Tsukune stepped out of the shower just as she finished undoing her braids.

"I'll see you at breakfast;" he said as he walked out of the bathroom.

-Fifteen minutes later-

Soifon walked in and saw each visored was jaw dropped at the sight in front of them; Tsukune had devoured nearly a week's worth of food for a single person in one sitting. Given it wasn't specially fortified food like in the Seireitei, but still a week's worth of food in only a little more than ten minutes.

"Where did he put it all?" Kensei asked.

"Considering how much reiatsu he used yesterday" Hacchi said as he placed another plate in front of the boy "I'm not too surprised."

"Thanks Hacchi-san" Tsukune said as he scratched his head "I haven't eaten much in the past couple days."

"Ya should be sayin' sorry;" Hiyori snorted "that's a shit-load of food ya just ate."

"You have no room to talk Hiyori-san;" Kisuke yawned as he entered the room "You try to steal candy from my shop after a training session. Pardon me Soifon" as he carefully moved around her.

Before the shop owner knew what hit him, he was on the ground in a chokehold by Hiyori.

"I just cleaned my sheets yesterday" she growled "and you and bazooka tits decide to use my room ta fuck? Not only that, I had to sleep on the piece a shit couch" as she started giving the former taichou kidney shots.

"**This is amusing"** the bus driver said as he let out a stream of smoke.

Everyone jumped at the sight of the bus driver; everyone but Hiyori, Hacchi, Tsukune, Kisuke, and Soifon had their blades drawn and pointed at the man. Said man showed no signs of being bothered by the situation either; he merely looked at Tsukune.

"**So are you ready to head back?"**

"So creepy" Mashiro said as everyone lowered their weapons and stepped away from the man.

"**Young missy,"** as he took a puff of his cigar **"until you meet the Head Master of Yokai Academy; you have no idea what creepy is. I've seen and been in enough bad situations to not be shaken at the thought of having blades from a group of fuku-taichou and taichou level former shinigami."**

"Yes sir;" Tsukune replied as he swallowed the last of his food.

"Tsuki, what about yer other zanpakuto?" Yachiru asked as she hopped onto his shoulder.

"'Other zanpakuto'?" with a confused look.

"The scythe that was on the dresser;" Shinji said "did you think that was for decoration?"

Tsukune scratched the back of his head as he looked away from the group; he honestly had thought it was a decorative piece. Several of the visoreds face palmed when they realized that he did. They spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to move the damn thing without getting hurt and he thought it was there because it looked cool; Hiyori thought he was a complete idiot.

"Yes, it's yours;" Kensei said "damn thing seems to be picky about who holds it."

"I'll go get it so we can head back to Yokai Academy;" as he stood up and left the room.

Moments later, the teen returned with the scythe in hand; the bone-like material didn't attempt to spike him like it had everyone else. It was his zanpakuto though so it made sense that it wouldn't try to hurt him.

"Did it come with a holster or something?" with a confused look receiving a negative head shake from everyone.

He tapped it on his empty shoulder with a sigh and let out a startled yell as the bone-like staff wrapped around his torso from waist to shoulder and the blade folded against the stinger-like end. After a couple blinks he rolled his shoulder, twisted his torso, and discovered his mobility hadn't become limited as a result of the weapon.

"I guess we should get going;" as he made his way to the exit but stopped and turned around "thank you for your help" with a bow.

"If ya want extra training just come on back or send a message and one of us will be out there" Shinji said with a smile and wave.

Tsukune nodded as he left the building with Soifon, Yachiru, Urahara, and Yoruichi in her cat form. As they loaded the bus, Tsukune sat next to a window and Yachiru immediately claimed his lap, Urahara and Yoruichi went to the back, and Soifon sat in the seat across from him. He closed his eyes feeling a little sad that Soifon didn't sit next to him, but he had said that they needed to decide where they would go from here and maybe a little space was needed. When he opened his eyes he saw Yokai Academy, and Akasha standing in the middle of the court yard; he walked over to her not sure of how things were going to go.

"I'm sorry;" he said flat out "I didn't have faith in you and… I almost lost myself because of it. Please" with a deep bow "forgive me."

He was suddenly pulled into a hug.

"I do;" in her usual soft, motherly voice "but you must believe in yourself and me. A shinigami's strength isn't truly just their own; it is a reflection of the bond between a shinigami and their zanpakuto. If they have no faith in their zanpakuto, then they are weak; if they only believe in their own power, the zanpakuto spirit is hurt. Please remember this."

"I will" as he hugged her back.

"I know there are things you wish to ask me" as she broke from the hug "things you wish to know and understand."

Tsukune wiped the tears that had started forming from his eyes and became serious. In his inner world time moved differently, he knew that, so he had all the time they needed to talk.

-Ruby; Yokai Academy-

The young witch started to panic as she looked through the storage room trying to find the item that had disappeared. This item had nearly destroyed the campus in the previous year and was now missing. It had been in its usual place just two days ago when she last did inventory of all the items the Head Master had in his possession; so it hadn't been gone long. The room required an access number to enter; each one was unique to each person that had one. She checked the logs and saw that since two days ago only four others had entered the room; the Head Master, two others that also do inventory/custodial work, and the head of the Safety Committee. Her eyes were glued to the monitor as she watched the security footage during each person's visit.

"Oh no;" as her eyes shook "I need to warn the Head Master."

After making sure everything was turned off and secured, she did an all out sprint to the Head Master's office.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Hiyori let out a loud yawn as she scratched her side; she was already bored out of her mind and was wishing she had gone back to Yokai Academy. The vampire that looked like her was fun to hang out with and was a decent sparring partner considering the versatility of the Bake-bake bat. While she knew the vampire would lose every time, it would've been something to do instead of waiting around to go do a few laps around town. She was confused about why her look alike had been obsessed with chasing that weak shinigami around; the vampire was still young and probably had a crush on him without realizing it.

"Bored already?" Mashiro asked in a child like manner.

"No shit."

"You could've gone with Tsukune;" Shinji said as he put his feet on the table as he decided to mess with her "it would've given you a chance to see your lesbian lover."

"I AIN'T A LESBIAN!" she shouted as she smacked him with a flip-flop.

Everyone in the room just ignored her comments as she continued to beat the shit out of the former taichou that tried to start a round of acquisitions towards the violent blonde. There for a time some of them had wondered if the girl swayed that way, but after Lisa had girl talk with her they had their answer.

"I'm just sayin', I never see you out ogling at guys like Lisa and even Mashiro;" Shinji said "I seriously think you need to get laid. It could help you calm the hell down; virgin."

A tick mark could be seen on Hiyori's forehead from space before she started wailing on Shinji for his comment. She's told him time and again that she wasn't gonna let just anyone have it; she was saving that for after she was married. The rest of the visoreds ignored the former taichou's cries for help as Hiyori bent his leg unnaturally and started cutting his hair with scissors.

"Seriously though;" Lisa asked without looking up from her manga "why not go see that vampire you seemed to have made friends with?"

Hiyori temporarily stopped punching Shinji and looked at her fellow former fuku-taichou.

"I thought there'd be more ta do here."

"She's denying her true lesbian self;" Shinji moaned from the ground; earning him a stomping on the nuts.

"I AIN'T A LESBIAN FER THE LAST TIME!" as she continued to stomp on him "I think Bean might have it for a member of the Fourth though."

"A wise choice;" Lisa said bluntly "they know where to touch for the best orgasms."

"ALL OF YA ARE FRICKIN PREVERTS!" Hiyori shouted as she stormed out of the room.


	36. Chapter 36

The Head Master's eyes looked back down to the paperwork he had been doing when Ruby burst through his office doors. This was indeed a major problem that needed to be seen to, but at the moment there was enough for him to do without questioning the head of the Safety Committee. He and his former mentor were close, or at least felt close, to discovering a way to prevent Hollows from opening a Garganta on the inside of the barrier. This would leave the Hollows already on campus effectively stuck until they would be slain by the shinigami and prevent more from showing up.

"**Just one thing after another;"** with a sigh.

There was a knock at the door.

"**Enter;"** a smile grew on his face as the doors opened **"I trust your trip was successful, Tsukune-kun. You won't be…"** carefully thinking of how to word his question **"having a relapse any time soon?"**

"The training worked Head Master;" he replied seeing where the man was going "and no sir, I won't be having a relapse."

"**Excellent. There is a matter I need you to take care of rather swiftly; do you remember the Lilith's Mirror?"** the boy nodded **"it would seem that Kuyo has taken the mirror from storage for some reason or another. I need you to retrieve it from him, no matter what it takes"** in a slightly dark tone suggesting a death might be a result.

Without realizing it, Tsukune gave a small gulp as he nodded his head. He had all of his memories back and knew what the mirror was capable of; it nearly caused the barrier to collapse even before the student president had a whack at it. This item of legend was not something that could just be simply handled either. It needed to be covered by a special cloth to prevent its power from being unleashed.

"**I would suggest putting your new zanpakuto away first though,"** as he leaned back in his chair **"such a weapon seems unbecoming of your true personality."**

"It looks good on Tsuki;" Yachiru objected "don't do it Tsuki!"

"It makes me feel a little uneasy Yachiru-chan;" Tsukune admitted "I'll put it in my room before talking to Kuyo-san."

Tsukune walked out of the office after the Head Master dismissed him and Soifon, ignoring Yachiru's attempts to talk him into keeping the scythe where it was. Ruby had to bite her tongue to keep from asking the hooded man how it was possible for Tsukune to have gotten a new zanpakuto on top of the one he already had. She knew something was off but decided it was best for her crush to tell her when he was ready too. The look that was on Tsukune's face, however brief, when the Head Master asked Tsukune to retrieve the mirror from Kuyo told her enough; he remembered _everything_ from when he was alive.

It wouldn't be a problem if Tsukune had a normal student life while attending Yokai Academy, but he had the opposite. Nearly every week Tsukune was faced with a new problem, and each one seemed to build off the last. When Kuyo had taken him into custody, he had also taken Mizore, Kurumu, and Moka; then tortured them all in some form. Kuyo was a relentless person that saw his own goals worth doing whatever he wanted obtain. The god-like Yokai attempted to kill Tsukune publicly, nearly succeeded at it, and ended up putting a spear of fire through Tsukune's lung in an attempt to ruin what the academy stood for.

She knew that Tsukune was going to be metaphorically chained to the fear he felt when he first met and faced Kuyo. Such a fear was not something that could be overcome easily; it was going to test her closest friend's resolve.

-Tsukune, Yachiru, and Soifon-

"You realize that the sou-taichou will most likely send at least one taichou to escort you back to the Seireitei?" Soifon said breaking the numbing silence that had plagued them.

"Yes," as he stopped fighting Yachiru's tugging at his hair "and I don't regret disobeying his orders to save my friends. I will answer for what I did and hope for the best."

"The worst is twenty years in the Maggot's Nest" Soifon responded "the best you could hope for is being sent back to the Rukongai outside the Seireitei."

"I'm sure it'll work out;" with a smile.

The petite taichou took a deep breath before nodding and vanishing with a burst of shunpo; she didn't want to think about it but knew it wasn't something that could just be ignored. The list of things that could happen as a result of Tsukune's breaking the rules prior to joining the academy alone was long enough to cover her desk back in the Seireitei. Add on to that the list of things he's done since then and that list pretty much rolled out the door.

Tsukune took off to his dorm with a quick step of sonido and getting back into his room. Yachiru, always eager to have him use sonido with her on his shoulder, begged him to do it again; after telling her he'd do it again once he put the scythe like zanpakuto away she quieted down. He pulled out the badge the Twelfth Division taichou had given him and pressed it to his chest. As his soul form left the gigai, a thought hit him; how did the Head Master know about the second zanpakuto? A small shiver went down his spine at the thought of how creepy the man really was. The seal master was just that and probably had seals in his office that would let him see anyone's true form while they were in there; it didn't make it less creepy though.

Sliding the scythe underneath his bed for the time, he knew he'd need to find a better place to keep it; or at least a place where it wouldn't be easily located or stolen. While it was Ghoul's zanpakuto, Ghoul was still a part of him thus making the zanpakuto a part of him too and he didn't want to lose it. It would be about like Ghoul losing Akasha's blade; Tsukune wouldn't be in the best of moods discovering such a thing.

"Now we go talk to Kuyo-san;" as he reentered his gigai.

-Safety Committee Office-

Kuyo sat at his desk looking over some paperwork about the fight that had happened yesterday between a visiting parent and the half breed covering for Aono. This Kurosaki had handled the elder pure bred vampire like he was nothing when he changed his form into that demon looking thing; based off what he managed to see, the form Kurosaki had taken was that of a hollow. The creatures were still foreign to him and he wasn't sure what the humanoid form meant, but he assumed it had something to do with being able to nearly demolish the vampire.

He was tempted to pull an item from the drawer in his desk and use it to help relax but had been advised against it by the one over him, saying it could give him away. Keeping up this charade was already taxing him; meetings, subordinates, breaking up fights, dealing with the students. Normally he was very patient and could do something under the radar for weeks before he got bored, but this was different. His superior had claimed he needed to go to an emergency meeting. The man shook his head as there was a knock at the door.

"Enter;" he barked before the door opened "Kenpachi, what a surprise. Good to see you're finally done with your vacation" with a growl "that delinquent you had covering for you caused a major uproar yesterday that almost ended with the death of a parent. I hope whatever it is you had to do was worth it."

"I'm sorry;" with a bow "the assignment was important and it was worth it."

"Your youki seems to be a bit more stable than when we fought;" he noted.

"Thank you; the Head Master sent me on a training assignment;" he half lied "I already reported to him. He mentioned an item had been taken from his storage unit yesterday too. He" with a gulp "believes you might be in possession of it; the Lilith's Mirror."

Kuyo stood up in a calm manner, a creepy smile grew on his lips moments before Eiyu was sent flying out of the office with a single hit. He knew it had been a matter of time before he was discovered, but he thought he timed the theft perfectly to gain another day before discovery. As he ran through the door he grabbed the covered item from the cabinet next to the door. The time had come to put the plan into action, something he had wanted at least another few hours for.

"Chocolate-hair;" Yachiru said as she smacked his face "he's gettin' away."

The teen pulled himself from the wall and chased after the Kitsune Yokai. For some reason he felt as though his body was heavier, his legs were slower to react to commands than before, chest felt as if his lungs were on fire, and a slight trembling found its way to the surface. His mind was bombarded with images of what happened the first time him and his friends challenged Kuyo. Gritting his teeth, he used a burst of sonido to catch up to the fleeing Safety Committee officer; when he appeared in front of the target, he drew his zanpakuto and went to slash at him horizontally. Kuyo drew his own blade with his free hand, blocked the attack, and spun around just before sending his elbow into his attacker's face which sent him bouncing across the ground.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance shinigami!" Kuyo shouted as he took to the sky.

Tsukune's eyes widened; Kuyo knew who he really was. He put Yachiru on the ground and compressed spirit particles under his feet to continue his chase. As he approached the Kitsune he fired off a Shakkaho, nailing the man in the back and sending him falling towards the ground. The item he had taken from his office bounced on the ground and started to come unwrapped, revealing a golden edging. Before he could grab the item, he had to block a kick that was thrown at him from Kuyo.

The Kitsune blended a barrage of kicks, punches and sword swings at the shinigami as he backed him away from the mirror. He noticed members of the Safety Committee rushing towards them to see what was going on. Gritting his teeth, he landed a powerful kick to the side of his opponent's face; which knocked him far back enough for Kuyo to take his hybrid form. There was little anyone could do to him while he was like this, only the shinigami taichou, fuku-taichou, and Arrancar could defeat him now.

"Did you really think I wouldn't know who you are AONO?!" he laughed as he continued his assault on the boy "you escaped death once, but your precious Newspaper Club isn't here to protect you this time!"

Tsukune barely managed to stay on his toes and block the fury of attacks. His arms were deciding to move slower than he wanted them to for some reason; not some reason, he knew what was wrong. He couldn't shake the fear of what happened the first time he faced Kuyo, even though he had fought the Kitsune only a couple weeks ago and nearly won while in his gigai. It was his fear that was holding him back. Kuyo's blade slashed into his shoulder just before the Kitsune used two of his tails to bat him away like a fly.

Pain filled his body as he slammed into the tower of the mansion. He patted as grabbed one of the spikes jutting out from the corner to steady himself. Before he could wonder why the Charm ability he gained from Kahlua wasn't working, he was greeted by Kuyo's foot being planted in his chest and sending him through the tower. He couldn't bring his zanpakuto up fast enough to keep the incoming sword from slicing into his side. A pained cry escaped him as Kuyo punched him to the ground.

A crowd had started to form at a safe distance from the battle that had begun. Many were questioning if it was just training or if it was an actual battle. Those with a good view managed to see enough to know that it was an all out fight and started wondering what sparked it. A couple students accidently started a rumor that Kuyo was punishing Eiyu for going AWOL for the pass week. Others weren't sure what to think as the Kitsune grabbed something from the ground that looked like a mirror.

"Let's show everyone who you truly are!" Kuyo laughed as a blinding green light came from the mirror and even caught many from the crowd.

When the light faded, Tsukune was out of his gigai in his shinigami uniform and many students were forced into their true forms as well. Ichigo looked into the crowd and was glad that the light hadn't hit him; there was no telling how much damage his hollow could do if he were let loose. Before he could turn his attention back to what was happening, he felt someone grab his face and yank him down to plant their lips against his; apparently Orihime had gotten hit by the light, causing her to act strangely.

Kuyo's laughing came to a halt as he looked at the teen in front of him. He had been told that using the mirror would possibly cause Aono to change into his hollow and join them, but it wasn't happening. His eyes shook as he thought of one possibility to why it didn't work; the Visoreds he had heard about. Aono must have been with them for the previous day to gain control over it. From the corner of his eye he could see the shinigami's allies approaching the battlefield.

"Perhaps if I put more youki into it;" as he held the mirror high over his head and the blinding light returned bathing everyone that was watching the fight.

When the light died down, several students started attacking each other over grudges or simply because it was their nature. Orihime's fairies had been forced from their places on her hair pins; Tsubaki started pulling on the girl's hair and yelling at her for summoning them. Ichigo began to swat the aggressive fairy only to hear a familiar voice.

"**Dafuq you looking at half pints?!"** Hichigo snapped at several students that were staring at him **"da hell's going on?"** as he saw Ichigo.

"We're too late;" Ruby said in fear as more fights began to break out while she flew down from the sky.

Grimmjow looked around and could see that whatever was happening was because of the light the mirror had let off. He looked down and saw that he had been forced from his gigai just like Tsukune, Soifon, Rangiku, and Yachiru had been. While usually an aggressive person, he had plenty of practice keeping his violent urges suppressed to keep from pissing off those stronger than him. A low growl came from behind him; as he turned he was tackled to the ground by a white panther. The creature bit into his arm and vanished with a burst of sonido; at that moment he knew what, or rather who, had attacked him. It was none other than Pantera.

Kuyo looked at Aono with shaking eyes; the mirror had failed again. He grit his teeth in anger as he realized what this meant; this plan had been for nothing. It had been fruitless since he had been told what to do, and now it was nothing more than a distraction until help came.

"Fujisaki and that woman said this would work;" as he kneed Tsukune in the chest "he insisted that you have great power within you. Then let's see it Aono! Show me the power you killed Fujisaki's living form with!"

Kuyo continued his brutal hits refusing to let up for even a second. Each hit left a red mark but no damage aside from that; his Hierro was absorbing most of the impact. The Kitsune could feel the shinigami's Arrancar ability resisting the hits against his knuckles and legs. He was doing everything he could think of to try to have the shinigami show him his true power; then an idea hit him.

"Do you want to know why the Safety Committee didn't do anything to try to keep your friends safe?" he asked with a smirk as he flew into the air and charged a flame wheel "because I ordered them not to; I'm a part of the organization that kidnapped them!" he laughed as the wheel grew larger "that organization's name is Fairy Tale!"

He launched the wheel of fire at the shinigami while laughing like a manic at the fact that Aono tried to shield himself from the raging inferno with his hand. Flames exploded from the point of impact and engulfed the immediate surround ground in a fire that burned hotter than anyone could imagine. He continued laughing as he landed and looked into the flames to see if the job was done. After deeming it was, he turned to face the crowd, a psychotic grin on his face, and could see the harem of girls that used to follow the human around glaring angrily at him. Youki could be seen around them as they changed to their true forms.

"Do you really think you can defeat me? I just killed your precious Aono like it was nothing" he laughed "I figured they must have been mistaken in his abilities. To think that he could kill someone as powerful as Fujisaki-sama, what a joke!"

"You should look behind you Yellow-eyes" Yachiru warned.

Before the Kitsune could think to retort to the child sized fuku-taichou, he felt a strange youki pressing down on him. Everyone in the crowd saw an explosion of visible youki come from the center of the flames followed by a strange mask forming in the youki. A high pitch screech/cry seemed to come from the mask just as it dissipated and the flames were suppressed by the youki. Kuyo didn't have time to look back as he felt a massive gash form on his back; in front of him stood Aono with his left arm heavily burnt and hanging limp at his side. The burn led up to his neck where it seemed to just stop, his shinigami uniform was smoldering from the light damage it had received, and parts of his hair were clearly burnt.

He went to ask how he had survived, only to be cut off by the shinigami continuing to attack. Something was different now, that much he could tell; while he had finally seemed to have gotten under Aono's skin, everything about the boy changed. The shinigami was attacking with aggression he didn't think he had in him, his eyes seemed to be cold and void of emotion, and even his youki had a killing intent about it. Kuyo managed to block the zanpakuto swings with his own weapon while back stepping, but he couldn't get an opening to retake the offensive in the fight. Another cut formed on his chest as Aono started to throw a kick, but changed to a sword swing once Kuyo went to block.

Moka, Mizore, Kurumu, and Yukari started to go to help Tsukune, only to be stopped by Soifon and Ichigo. The girls started to yell angrily at them only to have Soifon look at them with a glare.

"This is his fight;" she snapped at them "he spent the past four days training his ass off so he could protect you and was absent when you needed him most. He isn't the weak human you remember him as; by reiatsu alone he is easily fuku-taichou level."

"We've always protected him;" Moka shouted at her.

"You really don't get it;" Ichigo said causing the group to look at him confused "he wasn't here to fight against the ones that kidnapped Mizore. So he feels responsible for it; when that Kitsune said he had a part in it," as he watched Tsukune kick his opponent in the side "that made it personal. Tsukune and I are alike; he's not going to back down from this. I sure didn't when I confronted the hollow that killed my mother."

Kurumu, Moka and Yukari were stunned at what the orange haired shinigami had just told them; the person Kuyo was fighting really was Tsukune and not the Kitsune just trying to get under their skin. The one they loved had been back for weeks and had to deceive them; while they were angry at that, they were glad he was back at all. They watched as he blocked an attempt to cut his chest. The two combatants had their blades locked and pushing against each other with as much force as they could manage.

"Hado number one: Sho;" Tsukune said as he held out his index finger towards Kuyo.

The spell forced the two combatants to separate from their locked position and allowed them to recollect themselves. Kuyo's breathing had become heavier in the past minute; he didn't realize that Aono had this much of a fight in him. Tsukune's breathing had slowed down since he became more focused on the fight, remembering everything he's learned from his mentors. He ignored the ruckus that the students were making from their own side battles and focused primarily on Kuyo.

Tsukune put the tip of his blade into the ground and used his now free hand to remove his top; tossing it aside. He could feel the material was trying to stick to his skin which was only going to hinder him in this fight. Right now he needed every bit of mobility that he could get.

"Do you really intend to keep fighting me with only one useful arm?" the Kitsune asked.

Without hesitation, Tsukune used his zanpakuto to slice into the injured limb deep enough to draw blood and let the blood pool on his blade; he could hear his friends gasp at what he had just done but paid no mind to it. As he removed the blade from the wound, he could feel his damaged arm ever so slowly begin to heal. It was a slow pace for now, but it was much better than just letting the injury linger and end up doing more harm because of a useless limb. Centering his zanpakuto on his body, he showed he had every intention on continuing to fight.

A burst of sonido put him behind the Kitsune ready to bring an over head swing down on his opponent, who spun quickly to the side and went to kick the shinigami. Just before the foot would've made contact, Tsukune vanished with another static like boom and appeared over the blonde bringing down an axe kick. His attack barely missed as Kuyo leaned backward just enough and retaliated with a punch to his exposed midsection; Tsukune clenched his jaw in frustration as he compressed spirit particles beneath his feet to keep from skidding too far.

Kuyo threw spears of fire at his enemy only to have the teen easily dodge them without the use of sonido; just by side stepping he was able to avoid the dangerous projectiles. He ceased launching the flaming spears as Aono began to charge towards him ready to make a horizontal slash across him. As he blocked the brown haired teen's attack, said boy twisted his body and landed a powerful kick to the side of his face that sent him skidding to the side almost uncontrollably.

The opening he had just let happen cost him dearly; the shinigami teen continued to use a blend of kicks and sword swings that kept him on the defensive. He was going to give Aono this, his skills had improved greatly since they last fought; it was a shame that they were on opposite sides of what was the start of a new war. From what he heard though, the Aono boy wasn't one to hold grudges for long without a good reason; maybe in the future they could be allies.

Kuyo's line of thought was cut off as the ringing of metal hitting metal sounded in his ears. The shinigami and Kitsune pushed against each other's weight hoping to get the advantage and go on the offensive. The Kitsune grit his teeth in frustration as he realized that he was having trouble against his opponent who only had one arm to fight with. His training had been for nothing in comparison to what Aono was capable of; getting thrown around and battered for a week was worthless in this moment.

"How much longer do you think you can last;" Kuyo asked as he side stepped and let the weight shift throwing Aono off balance "you can't cast any kido spells without a free hand" as they locked blades "with just one…"

Kuyo's question had been cut short by a fist he never would've thought to keep an eye on; Tsukune's left one. His eyes shook as he wondered how this was possible. The shinigami's left arm should've been completely useless after taking the damage it did from his flame wheel, but he had just been hit by it with almost enough force to crack a lesser yokai's jaw. His time was cut short as Tsukune raised his left arm and an orange hued tendril came rushing towards him.

"Bakudo number nine: Horin" Tsukune said as he whipped the tendril at Kuyo.

The Kitsune jumped back and launched a small wave of fire to intercept the spell that had just been used; not wanting to find out what it was capable of. As the two met, a small explosion happened that followed the tendril back towards the caster. Tsukune's eyes went wide for a second before he threw his arm to the side and let the spell disconnect from him; the explosion still caused enough smoke to impair his vision. Kuyo took advantage of this and charged towards the shinigami ready to remove a limb.

Tsukune's Pesquisa picked up the incoming reiatsu of Kuyo and he raised his zanpakuto to block. The sound of metal scrapping metal sounded as the two dragged their blades against each other's putting them back to back. Neither one missed a beat as they quickly spun around and locked blades; Tsukune's eyes remained focus and his face void of emotion, while Kuyo's showed anger and a cocky grin.

"Naginatas" he said.

Before the shinigami teen could wonder what the Kitsune was planning, the sword in Kuyo's hands changed into a naginatas just as he commanded. The sudden weight redistribution threw Tsukune off his center of gravity, allowing his opponent to drive his knee into Tsukune's gut and cross checking the boy in the face with the new weapon giving him a black eye as he skid backwards. Kuyo laughed as he used the opening to push forward with a fury of aggressive offensive attacks.

"Didn't you wonder why my blade was able to hurt you outside of your gigai?" as he jabbed repeatedly causing Tsukune to backpedal as he evaded "this is a Bake-bake bat! Fairy Tale wouldn't send anyone up against a spirit creature without one; never mind a shinigami."

Using a burst of sonido, Tsukune put some distance between him and Kuyo. His eyes narrowed as he retook the offensive; there was something off about how Kuyo was fighting. It wasn't something anyone could notice without having fought the Kitsune before; where he had favored punches just a week ago, he was now using an even blend of punches, kicks and weapon attacks. It was as if he was fighting someone else instead of Kuyo. Ducking down beneath a swing of the staff like weapon, he came up with an idea to see if he was right.

Doing a sweeping kick to Kuyo's feet, he watched as the Kitsune do a quick back flip to keep his ground. As the head of the Safety Committee landed, he saw Aono charge up an indigo cero in his left hand while fast approaching him. Thinking fast, he used his naginatas to slash at the building attack in order to make it unstable. When the edge of the weapon nearly hit, the cero suddenly dissipated and Aono grabbed a hold of the blade; the shinigami tossed his blade to the side and began charging another cero in his opposite hand. The indigo colored attack didn't get a chance to fire as Kuyo flipped to the side while kicking the hand into the air making the cero fire harmlessly into the sky as he landed and put distance between them.

"Who are you?" Tsukune asked as he took a Hakuda stance.

"You didn't give me a chance to introduce myself last time;" with a smirk "why should I do it now?"

Tsukune's eyes narrowed further as he realized who he was fighting; the doppelganger from last week.

-Grimmjow-

The panther Arrancar had large gashes across his chest, arms, and back from Pantera. The zanpakuto spirit seemed rather pissed about something and was taking it out on his wielder. Grimmjow's breathing was heavy while his zanpakuto spirit's was steady; was this really how strong Pantera was? There was no questioning if the creature was his zanpakuto spirit based off of how aggressively it battled, but to be this much stronger than him; how had he missed that?

The panther jumped at him with a burst of sonido to attempt a tackle causing Grimmjow to side step out of the path. As the panther went past him, he could see what damage he had managed to cause to his zanpakuto spirit; a decent number of cuts along its front legs, a few shallow ones across its back, and a nick to its face.

"I'm King;" Grimmjow growled as he blocked the massive paw with his blade "I'm the strongest" as he kicked the panther in the face "I won't be showed up by my own fuckin' zanpakuto spirit!"

Pantera dug its nails into the ground and skid to a halt with little effort and let out an angry roar as it launched itself at its wielder. As it jumped, Grimmjow raised his blade up and blocked both paws holding off the spirit in mid-air while it attempted to claw at him with its hind legs. Grimmjow kept his zanpakuto spirit at just enough of a distance to keep from feeling the fury that was its hind quarters; a mistake he made the first time Pantera did this that he wasn't going to make again.

The panther snapped its jaws at its wielder as its back legs came back into contact with the ground, giving it leverage to push. Grimmjow grit his teeth as he felt his feet slide against the ground; he knew that if he lost balance for even a second it would cost him dearly. He couldn't let the spirit get all four on the ground either because that could cost him just as much; if not more. Just as his vision began to slightly blur as a result of the blood loss, Pantera was suddenly removed from the blade that held it back.

Refocusing his eyes, Grimmjow saw a woman wearing an Amazoness style grass skirt and animal skin styled as a makeshift bra. She had black hair that was long enough to reach to her lower back and around her ankles and wrists were grass anklets and bracelets respectively. In what seemed to be no time, this woman had incapacitated his zanpakuto spirit and had tied it up with a vine rope that had been hidden by her skirt. Her back still to him.

"I didn't ask for yer fuckin' help" Grimmjow snapped at her as she secured the last knot.

The woman stood up and vanished with a swish of shunpo; the next thing the Arrancar knew he had a blade across his throat and his head was jerked back by his hair.

"You weak willed fool;" she berated him "you can't even keep your own zanpakuto spirit from being forced out of you by a mere reflective piece of glass. Even Aono, who was having his ass handed to him and filled with fear, managed to keep his zanpakuto spirit from leaving him. You claim to be a king, yet you can't even keep control of the thing that gives you part of your strength. How pathetic."

Grimmjow jabbed his elbow back causing the woman to let go of his hair and swung his blade at her; only to miss as she vanished with another use of shunpo. He tried to locate her quickly, but felt her hand on his throat and the butt of her blade in the center of his back.

"This is a part of what I'm talking about;" she hissed at him "you can't even thank the one that just saved your sorry ass. Instead you go on an ego trip and try to prove you're stronger. Even when Kurosaki, who you tried to kill three times, sparred you and even had his girlfriend heal you, you refuse to thank either of them for taking you out of that kami forsaken desert and giving you refuge in the Fourth Division's clinic. No; instead you chose to 'thank him' by challenging him to a fight every chance you get, insulting him when he defeated the man that was going to betray everyone that followed him, and attempted to grope every female shinigami that treated you while in the Fourth Division's clinic. At the rate you're going;" as she tightened her grip around his throat "you will never know your true strength."

"Bitch" he growled as he felt the butt of her weapon pressed harder into his back.

"You have no idea" she whispered into his ear just before she vanished via shunpo.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired shinigami vanished with a burst of sonido as the doppelganger attempted a barrage of jabs at him with the sharp end of the naginatas. He couldn't get back to his zanpakuto thanks to his opponent staying effectively between him and it. Without knowing more kido spells than he already knew, he couldn't catch the copycat off guard long enough to use sonido to pull his zanpakuto from the ground.

"Let me tell you a secret" the doppelganger said as he punched Tsukune in the gut.

The doppelganger could feel that he had broken his wrist against Aono's Hierro, but thanks to the training he had put himself through for as long as he cared to remember he was able to ignore the throbbing pain. It was only a mild annoyance for the moment; as long as he didn't do anything to make the damage worse it would stay that way. This fight was taking far too long.

"It wasn't me that attacked your yuki-ona friend. It was my idiot of a friend who always overreacts when someone stumbles upon us. If anything," as he blocked a kick with the staff "I kept him from killing her on the spot."

He could see the mildly shocked look on the shinigami's face; it didn't surprise him too much though. When they had first fought he told the boy that 'he didn't remember everyone they killed'. That one line that somehow managed to slip out of his mouth ended with a large cut in his side; luckily it had been treated by time he woke up after the fight.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tsukune asked as he blocked a kick with his arm.

"Because I want to;" he admitted as he used his second leg to pinch Tsukune's head and threw him with a twist of his body.

Compressing spirit particles under his feet, Tsukune managed to keep from hitting his head on the ground from the throw. He needed to think of a way to be able to get to his zanpakuto. Then it hit him.

"Hado number thirty one: Shakkaho!"

The kido spell hit its mark dead in the face and exploded; smoke quickly plumed from the point of impact.

"Fire based attacks won't harm me while I have Kuyo's form" the doppelganger said with a laugh.

"It wasn't meant to;" he heard from the other side of the smoke.

He jumped back as fast as he could in anticipation of what was coming and was glad he did. Instead of having his arm cut off, or worse being bisected, by Tsukune's blade coming down, he managed to only get a quasi deep cut from shoulder to waist on his right side. Tossing the bake-bake bat to the ground, he took to the sky as he charged another flame wheel as fast as he could. He watched at Aono held out his now nearly perfectly healed arm and charged a cero to counter. Not wanting to find out how fast the teen could charge his own attack, the doppelganger threw the flame wheel at the boy with as much force as he could manage.

Everyone that wasn't involved in their own fights watched as Tsukune stood in place while the flame wheel came at him. In a split second, the teen narrowed his eyes and fired the cero he had been charging at the spinning wheel of fire. When the two collided, the flames were snuffed out completely and the indigo colored attack continued to race towards the doppelganger. No one missed the look of fear that was in his eyes just before he was hit by the cero and became surrounded by smoke. The Kuyo look alike fell from the smoke cloud and slammed onto the ground causing everyone watching to wince; they didn't need to, or want to, feel the pain to know that it hurt like all hell.

Moments after the doppelganger hit the ground, he struggled to pick himself up. Every part of him ached; he had severe burns from the cero all over his body, he landed on the already broken wrist making the injury worse, his left knee cap shattered when he hit the ground, and a lung had been punctured. As he stood up completely, he felt the form he had taken begin to regress and he took his normal form. A doppelganger's most human form, without copying someone's, was slightly disturbing; a number of teeth weren't aliened, his hair had multiple bald spots and was thin where there was hair, his back hunched over, eyes sickly yellow, and his fingernails looked like they belonged on a decomposing corpse.

"They said this was going to be easy;" as he put all his weight on his good-ish leg "and Yokai say doppelgangers are the greatest liars. That bitch Gyokuro promised me the strength I needed to make my kind respected" his eyes locked on Tsukune "I'll take your form and use your power to kill that lying bitch!"

The doppelganger charged as best he could towards Tsukune. The young shinigami closed his eyes for a moment; he needed to stop his opponent from going down a path that would turn him into a hollow. As he opened his eyes again, he raised his zanpakuto over his head and built reiatsu around it.

"Ketsujin" he said in a monotone as he brought the blade down.

The blood based attack flew from the edge of his blade towards the doppelganger. When it hit, it knocked the look alike backwards as it sliced into his torso from waist to opposite shoulder. Moka, Mizore, Yukari, Ruby and Kurumu just looked at their friend in disbelief at what he had just done; this was a side of Tsukune they never would've thought he had. He had just killed someone; or so they thought.

"Why?" the doppelganger asked barely auditable.

Tsukune sonido over to his opponent and kneeled next to him.

"It isn't worth becoming a hollow;" in a sad tone "you need medical attention."

"It's too late;" with a chuckle as his eyes closed "but thanks for the concern."

Tsukune went to pick up the doppelganger to take him to Orihime, but felt his body lockout in pain as his Charm ability began to wear off. He didn't intend on killing the doppelganger, he only wanted to knock him out at the worst; guilty tears began to run down his face as he clenched his jaw to keep from yelling at himself. Yet again, a person died by his physical hands and he didn't even know his name. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the tears to stop flowing.

"**I believe this"** the Head Master said as he finally made his appearance and picked up the mirror **"has been released for long enough."**

The exorcist covered the mirror with the cloth that kept its power in check and the students that had once been fighting in their true forms suddenly reverted to their human ones. Pantera faded from the physical world and returned to Grimmjow's inner one, Orihime's fairies took the form of her hairpins again, but for some reason Hichigo seemed to remain; this caused the hooded man to raise an eyebrow. Instead of the hollow version of Ichigo laughing and starting to act like a hollow, as he originally expected, he simply stared at the sky. This caused the exorcist himself to look that way; a hollow was a creature of instinct, if something didn't seem right by Hichigo then something was off.

"**The air's too calm;"** as he reached for his photonegative of Zangetsu.

That exact moment numerous Garganta ripped open revealing dozens upon dozens of Gillian class Menos with fully charged ceros ready to fire onto the campus.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Isshin was hit in the face by a pot that his black haired daughter had thrown at him for being annoying, yet again. As the former taichou cried to the picture hanging on the wall of his deceased wife, there was a knock on the door. He heard Yuzu answer it and call for him. Straightening himself out, he went to see who it was. His eyes narrowed and became serious as he saw who it was.

"Yuzu, you and Karin go pack for an overnight stay at Urahara's" he said as he rubbed her head "I might need to be gone till morning."

The blonde girl nodded and went to tell her twin. Ever since she learned about their shinigami lineage she had become more understanding of why Ichigo had constantly disappeared during the school year and his grades fell. Family life was still rather simple though and she was thankful for that.

"He needs a favor; now?" Isshin asked as he looked at the bus parked on the street filled with familiar faces.

"**If he felt those there were enough for what he saw in the crystal ball I wouldn't be here;"** the bus driver said **"he regrets pulling you from your family considering everything that's happened recently. Were there any other way, you know he'd take it."**

Isshin sighed as he heard his daughters coming down the stairs. After putting them on the bus and arriving at the Urahara Shoten, he pulled out something that looked familiar to Karin; a red glove that had a skull in blue flames on the back.

"Do you know how to use it?" Isshin asked her as he handed it to her and she put it on.

"Yea; Ichigo told me how Rukia-nee would do it" with a grin "I want to try something different though."

Before the former taichou could ask, he was punched in the face by Karin's gloved hand and was sent head over heels into the side of the bus in his shinigami form. She was still pissed about the goat face hiding their lineage from them which could've gotten Ichigo killed because of the lack of proper training.

"Why are my children so mean to me?!" he cried as he picked himself up.

"That wasn't nice Karin-chan" Yuzu said as she went to check on their father.

"At least you love me;" with fake tears going down his face as he stood up.

The next thing he knew, he had been kicked in the nether reigns and was being pulled by his ear around the bus.

"Go do your damn job;" Karin said as she tossed the old man into the bus.

The bus driver laughed as he closed the door and put the bus into drive. Many of the passengers on the bus were stifling a laugh; even the one he considered a friend.


	37. Chapter 37

That exact moment numerous Garganta ripped open revealing dozens upon dozens of Gillian class Menos with fully charged ceros ready to fire onto the campus. Everyone's eyes went wide as they knew there was nothing they could do to escape the numerous incoming attacks that could easily destroy the school; there death seemed imitate. Before anyone could think to do anything, a wall of glowing pink swords surrounded the campus and took the hit from the ceros. When everyone looked back they saw the wielder of that zanpakuto.

"Byakuya" Ichigo said in relief as the taichou shunpo from his spot on the roof next to his sister's closest friend.

"Still disrespectful I see" he replied calmly as he retracted his zanpakuto back to its normal blade.

Several more Garganta ripped open everywhere the eye could see and hollow poured from each one. Tsukune couldn't force his body to retreat fast enough to get away from the dozens of hollow charging towards him. He was in no condition to fight this many hollow; even with Bloodriver's special ability to heal him, it didn't do much in the ways of removing the crippling pain that came with the injury. Just before the group of hollows caught up to him, they were frozen in place by a Chinese dragon made of ice.

"Taichou!" Rangiku said with joy as she saw him standing above the battlefield on condensed spirit particles.

The child prodigy didn't reply as he shunpo down from where he was standing and got Tsukune to Orihime to be healed. As Orihime began healing Tsukune more hollows began charging towards the campus.

"MAKE A HOLE!" was heard alongside maniacal laughter as a large form rushed towards the incoming wave of hollows.

"Ken-chan!" Yachiru cheered as she jumped onto his shoulder just before her adoptive father ran past her.

"We will need to establish a barrier around where most of the students are located and have a group escort those remaining into the barrier;" Byakuya said taking immediate charge of the situation "I will assist in the escort, Inoue-san will use her Soten Kisshun to act as a barrier and heal those that are in it, Kenpachi will most likely be Kenpachi and be keeping the waves back, Hitsugaya-taichou, your abilities will best be served in a midpoint between Kenpachi and Inoue-san. Kurosaki," as the noble looked at the teen "you and your hollow's skills can be used everywhere should you release your bankai. Soifon-taichou I will need your assistance in getting students to the barrier. Aono," turning his attention to the drop out being healed "you are currently unfit for battle; you depleted your reiatsu reserves and can't even stand."

Those words angered Tsukune and he pushed himself off the ground without using Bloodriver as a crutch. This place was special to him and he had friends here he needed to protect; he wasn't going to sit by and do nothing. He spent all last year being the one that had to be protected and now he finally had the strength to stand on his own and be the protector for once.

"I can still fight;" he protested as he grabbed the cross around his neck and pulled it off.

Everyone's eyes widened a little as Tsukune's reiatsu went from barely noticeable to a flood; while it wasn't exactly a 'flood' of reiatsu, it had caught them so off guard it felt like one at first. This did little to change Byakuya's orders; so he activated his Shikai while looking the taichou in the eye showing he was going to fight in this regardless of what the noble ordered. The taichou's eyes narrowed a bit before he closed his eyes. The boy had activated his Shikai without a release phrase; he clearly had bankai and was still able to fight despite his appearance.

"Where will your skills and zanpakuto work best at?" acknowledging defeat in the matter.

"Front lines;" he replied with confidence.

"Inoue-san; do you feel he is able to see combat?"

"Yes;" as the healing dome disappeared.

"Very well; you will answer to Kenpachi-taichou while you are out there. Where would most of the students be at right now?"

"The dormitories;" Tsukune answered.

"On it;" Ichigo said as he picked up Orihime bridal style and shunpo to the dorms.

As Ichigo vanished, his hollow dawned his mask and took off to take care of the large number of Gillian that had appeared; most likely because they posed the greatest challenge out of all the hollows now on the campus. This was a very good place for him to be at; the Gillian were the furthest back and fighting this many hollow from two angles was far better than from one.

"You are dismissed Aono;" the teen bowed and vanished with sonido "every student here is advised to stay as close as possible to either me or Soifon-taichou while we escort you to the dormitories" he announced to the crowd.

The air suddenly turned cold as the ground itself froze and cracked; Byakuya looked at Toshiro with a questioning look. Only to get a negative head shake from the young taichou. If it wasn't the young ice wielding shinigami, then who?

"We're more than capable to protect _our_ school;" he heard from the purple haired girl behind where Aono had been healed.

He could see her reiatsu flowing from her and creating ice beneath her feet as ice claws took shape on her hands. The other female students that were near her all had a similar look on their faces; one that showed they intended to fight. He noticed the silver haired girl eyeing something behind him; letting curiosity get the best of him he took a look. There was a small purple hued bat creature flying around near the tree that seemed to have a strange face on it.

"I'll help you get the Bake-bake bat Onee-sama;" Kokoa said as she morphed Kyu into a katana and started running towards the creature.

Moka immediately followed her little sister in an all out sprint; the other girls followed suit.

"Do as you please;" in an uncaring tone.

"**A wise choice;" **the Head Master chuckled **"they'd do so anyway. I'll head down to the barrier's control room and see what data can be collected from so many Garganta being opened at once. I advise you send someone to protect the infirmary as well Kuchiki-dono; just the one shinigami from the Fourth Division won't be anywhere near enough."**

Ginnei stepped forward as he took off his uniform jacket and changed to his werewolf form again, as well as Haiji who kept his karate uniform untouched; the two knew each other's abilities and knew that together they could take on a vast number of opponents.

"We got this;" Ginnei said as he cracked his knuckles "I was called a Mad Dog my freshman year for a reason. I'm always ready for a fight."

"I'll go with them" Rangiku said.

Toshiro nodded to his fuku-taichou and the trio took off towards the infirmary. He knew that a zanpakuto was going to be needed to do any real damage to the hollows that would head that way. He watched as the hooded man vanished with a green light that made a seal of some sort. After that, everyone took to their vantage point.

-Moka-

The S-rank vampire used an opening her friends made for her and jumped into the air. A hollow jumped towards her but was intercepted by one of Ruby's carnivorous plant creatures that entangled itself through the hollow's hole, arms, and legs as it bit viscously at the mask; the older witch wasn't concerned about the plant 'killing' the hollow because it was filled with pure Energy of Nature and would just purify the hollow. Moka placed her foot on a branch of the Monster Tree and used it to springboard into the air. Just as she was about to wrap her hands around the small creature, it folded itself and escaped from the vampire's near grasp.

"You can't catch them like that Onee-sama;" Kokoa said as she used her katana shaped bat to kill a hollow "I caught Kyu by intimidating him."

Moka took the hint as she landed on another branch.

"If you don't come to me right now;" she warned the bat "I'll rip your damn wings off!"

The bat gave Moka an uninterested look as it continued to fly in the air; gracefully dodging the hollow that wished to make a snack out of it. This irritated the vampire to no end; she had done as her sister suggested and was basically told to piss off. She bared her fangs before trying again, but stopped when she saw that a hollow was about to succeed in eating the bat. Launching herself from the branch she stood on, she got up to the bat and grabbed it from the air as she landed a powerful kick on the hollow back to the ground. The small bat looked up at its savior from her hand in shock but over came that quickly and perched itself on Moka's shoulder.

"Can you turn into anything I can use to kick with?" Moka asked it.

The bake-bake bat flew from her shoulder down to her right leg. Its wings became strap like and secured the creature to her shin at just below the knee and just above the ankle while its body became a blade aligned with the center of the shin. The S-rank vampire grinned evilly as she threw a kick at another hollow and the blade sliced cleanly through the mask where she hit.

"Thanks for the help;" Moka said to her friends.

"We should stay close together;" Mizore suggested as she froze a hollow in place "with how many hollow there are going on our own is a bad idea."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they continued to fight.

-Kenpachi-

The large taichou scowled as he sliced through hollow after hollow; he had hoped some of them would've been smart enough to come at him in numbers instead of coming one by one. None of them were anywhere near strong enough to give him a challenge, or a warm up for that matter, but he still had to keep slicing through them. Putting his foot against a hollow's head as it tried to sneak up behind him, he scowled even further at the pathetic attempt to attack him.

"None of ya are even worth the time to fight;" he complained as he sliced through three hollow at once.

"Go Ken-chan, go!" Yachiru cheered gleefully from his shoulder.

Out of the corner of his exposed eye he could see several hollow surrounding something and decided to investigate in the chance that it might be a student. As he sliced through hollow after hollow, he saw who was at the center of the group of hollow; Aono had put a fist through one hollows mask while kicking another causing both to be purified. The large taichou grinned wildly as he watched the boy sonido away from the group and launch a Ketsujin into the crowd; he had grown a lot in the two days since he last saw the boy. Something was different, and he wanted to fight the boy again.

-Elsewhere-

Another Garganta ripped open and several individuals stepped through; two notable individuals were Tia Harribel and Nnoitra Gilga. The others were various Adjuchas that had joined them in hopes that it would gain them good favor as well as a good snack. Yokai souls were highly sought after by many hollows since they often held more power than normal human souls and lesser hollow.

"You have your orders;" Tia said in a monotone "go."

The Adjuchas didn't say a word as they took off to their various locations; Nnoitra had other plans though. He headed to where he felt a strange number reiatsu bunched together instead of to the gym like he had been ordered to. Each step of sonido he took put him closer to the delicious feeling reiatsu; one in particular caught his senses. It had a strong sense of fear clinging to it; like any other hollow, Nnoitra was a predator and liked his meals having that feel to it.

As he approached the reiatsu, he found himself infuriated by those that owned them; a group of _women_ were fighting hollows. What annoyed him even more was the fact that they were fending the hollow off well. Grabbing the closest hollow to him, he stopped his advance and threw the hollow he grabbed into another one near the group; effectively getting their attention.

"My, my;" he chuckled "ain't ya a lively bunch. Too bad yer nothing but weak little skanks."

Without thinking, Kokoa, Moka, and Mizore attacked him; the praying mantis Arrancar grabbed the two vampires and took the hit from the yuki-ona causing her to break her arm.

"Is this really the best ya can do?" he laughed "let me show you who yer dealin' with" he showed them his tattooed tongue "Quinto Espada, Nnoitra Gilga! Just ta help ya understand how fucked ya are, that pussy Jagerjaquez is weaker than me."

He could feel their fear increase as he finished his sentence, but one's increased even more than the others.

"Looks like the succubus is the smartest of all of ya" he laughed "she's terrified. It's on yer reiatsu" as he threw Moka and Kokoa away from him and rushed towards her "it smells so delicious!"

Ruby summoned as many of her plants as she could to try to slow him down, but it was for nothing as the Arrancar lazily sliced through them. She gasped as Kurumu barely managed to take to the sky in time to avoid the strange blade that was swung at her and fly away from the Arrancar and battlefield. The witch opened her former Mistress' book and used a binding seal on the advanced hollow; as it wrapped around him, the Arrancar merely let out more reiatsu and broke it.

The Arrancar looked at the witch angrily before he stuck out his tongue and began to charge a cero. Ruby rapidly flipped the pages of the book and found the most powerful barrier her Mistress had created and used it just in time. The Quinto Espada fired the cero at her and her body froze in fear that her barrier wouldn't hold against the incoming attack. The cero exploded and a massive smoke cloud formed around where she floated in the air; she could feel that the barrier was still up. That left her to wonder what stopped the cero from hitting it.

"**Tsk;"** everyone heard from the cloud **"rather weak ass cero if ya ask me."**

A spiritual pressure flooded from the cloud and pushed it to the ground revealing Ruby's savior; Hichigo.

"**We never really met;"** as he lifted his mask up and showed his face to the Espada **"I'm Hichigo, and I have a bone to pick with ya"** before putting the mask back on and he sonido in front of Nnoitra.

Hollow Ichigo brought his cleaver like zanpakuto down in hopes of slicing the Quinto in half. The Espada raised his own zanpakuto fast enough to effectively block the blade of his new opponent. Reiatsu rippled through the air, knocking the girls down, as they pushed away from each other and charged at one another again. The two continued to attack each other viciously as the girls got out of the immediate area; the pressure from the youki was nearly suffocating them. They were thankful that the lesser hollow that had been attacking them also retreated as far away and as fast as possible from the battle between the Espada and Vasto Lorde.

-Kurumu-

The terrified succubus flew through the air as she managed to stay away from other hollow on campus. All this was too much for her; she thought she could face the creatures attacking the academy with her friends alongside her, but she was wrong. Ever since she and Mizore were kidnapped she's had a fear planted in her that she couldn't shake. As a Yokai, she knew that humans often feared even her kind because they didn't understand them; that fear usually turned to hatred that was more often than not outwardly projected. That was all she was feeling and she knew it; a fear of something that she didn't understand. As she continued to fly through the air, something knocked her out of the air by jumping violently onto her back.

"A very nice find;" she heard behind her.

She turned her head and saw a large hollow with the body of what resembled a gorilla with the mask of a bird of some sort. Its black fur looked raggedy but well kept, its eyes were an eerie almost glowing yellow, and its fingers and toes hand long nails that looked like they could slice through steel.

"I'm glad my minions pointed out your reiatsu" it chuckled "it smells delicious."

Kurumu looked around her and saw several smaller versions of the speaking hollow in the trees screeching in a laughing manner.

"Separating from your friends was a bad idea" the hollow continued "even more so since you separated from your shinigami friends. Now we will play with you for a while before ripping your soul into pieces and eating it."

The hollow snapped its clawed fingers and its minions jumped from the trees and began rushing towards the young succubus; who took back to the air as fast as she could.

-Infirmary-

The unnamed patient's eyes slowly opened as he felt something in the air. He knew he wasn't in Hueco Mundo, let alone Las Noches, by the room he was in; Las Noches' medical facilities would've had an Arrancar constantly present and would have had a more urging to wake up feel to the reiatsu in the air. What he felt in the room was more soothing than alerting; outside of the room though, he could sense a vast number of hollow battling a number of shinigami and… he felt Kurosaki's reiatsu in two places.

He sat up and saw a chair that had a scrub shirt folded neatly on it as well as a note. He picked up the paper and let his eyes skim over it; the hand writing was clearly female, although it was a little messy, and it had explained where he was.

'_If I'm not here when you wake up'_ he heard a voice read the message to him in his head _'you are in the infirmary at Yokai Academy; I found you unconscious near the pond. You've been asleep for about two months now and no one has been able to find out who you are. They've started calling you 'Kurono-san's patient'; that's my name Kurono Kurumu. Hopefully if you're reading this I'll be there soon; I've visited you every day after class and talked to you. After everything that happened last year I needed to talk to someone and with everything going on now I really needed to. Hope to finally meet you, ~Kurumu'_

The man looked at the chair next to him and put his hand on it to get a feel for this 'Kurumu's' reiatsu; it was weak, but far from faint. There was truth in her claim that she visited every day. Reaching out with his senses he felt that she was in danger from an Adjuchas. He got out of the bed, slipped the top that had been left for him on, grabbed his zanpakuto and left the room.

-Kurumu-

The succubus barrel rolled to avoid another of the monkey like hollow only to be blindsided by a second one that came from the side. Her sweater and skirt ripped as she rolled on the rocky ground that made up the edge of the pond. The small hollows laughed as they watched her get up and then suddenly started chasing her again; she was but prey to them and she knew it. There was no one to save her; she was going to die alone.

"Let's see if she can still fly with a major injury;" the Adjuchas snickered as it charged a small cero and fired it.

Kurumu could sense the attack coming. There was no stopping it; even with her flying as fast as she could manage, she couldn't avoid it. As tears began to form in her eyes she heard a static like boom behind her followed by an explosion. She looked back expecting to see Tsukune, but saw the person she had taken to the infirmary two months ago with his hand pointed towards the hollow that had been hunting her. His black hair laying perfectly beneath the half helmet that was his mask fragment, paste colored skin unharmed from what he had just done, and his youki was flowing at such a controlled rate that she could tell his eyes were as sharp as steel.

"Are you Kurono Kurumu?" he asked in a cool tone as he looked back at her.

His eyes were a powerful green with slits that were common in a vampire's eyes and were as sharp as she had guessed. They did have something she didn't think they would though; a sort of gentleness that seemed to be new to him. She couldn't get a good feel for his emotional state to try to better know why.

"Yes;" her body still shaking.

"Who the hell are you?" the Adjuchas demanded to know.

The Arrancar just looked back at the Adjuchas with an unamused look as he drew his zanpakuto.

"It does not matter to you," he said coldly "you will not live long enough for it to mean anything."

"Kill the whelp!" the Adjuchas ordered its minions.

The new combatant lazily dodged the incoming basic hollow with mere side steps and twists of his torso. He could feel his muscles were stiff from not being used for two months; that meant little though because of the healing factor he had been cursed with. Holding out his hand he caught one of the minion hollows and snapped its neck with a flick of his wrist.

"Your Allure ability can affect hollows;" he said to Kurumu as he tossed the corpse aside "to what extent is based off what you are capable of yourself. The sooner you stop shaking in fear and stand on your own the sooner you will be less fearful of this piece of trash. Your allies are not afraid of the hollows that are attacking this place; why should you be?"

However cold those words were, they hit something in the young succubus. She stood up with her eyes closed as one of the minions charged towards her. As a succubus her emotions were naturally more potent than any other species, which was why these hollows seemed so interested in her; it was because of this that her species was often called 'Over-reactors'. When a succubus felt emotions, they were often the rawest and most powerful of emotions that other species couldn't handle. The sooner she stopped being afraid of the hollow, the better.

Her eyes snapped open and she caught the charging hollow in her Allure; causing it to stop in its tracks and rub its masked head against her arm in a loving manner. This caused the Adjuchas to become noticeably surprised; its eyes seemed to shake in the sockets that revealed them. The prey it had been chasing for the past few minutes was now fighting back as she pointed its former minion back at the other lesser hollow.

"Kill the bitch now!" the Adjuchas ordered its remaining minions.

Those words no more left its mouth and its mask was sliced cleanly in half. Its body fell dead to the ground with a loud thump as the last of its minions were killed by the one that Kurumu now controlled. The Arrancar flicked his blade, cleaning it of the blood that was on it, and sheathed the weapon. As he turned around he saw the hollow digging into one of the corpses of its former comrades that lay on the ground.

"Is this the place you found me?" he asked and got a head nod in response "Fitting that we officially met here then" as he took off the scrub top and tossed it to her to cover up the slashes in her top "my name is Cifer Ulquiorra; Cuarto Espada. In your letter you said you wished to talk; I can offer what I know in the ways of answers."

-Mizore-

The yuki-ona held her broken arm as her and her friends looked desperately for Kurumu while fending off the hollows that came at them. Progress had been slow because she constantly needed to stop from the pain that was throbbing in her arm. She hated slowing them down, but there was little they could do since she was sure her arm was broken in many places. They needed to get to Orihime to have it healed.

She heard a scream for help nearby and looked to see it was the boy Kokoa had been chasing for the past several days. Raising her good arm, she froze the hollows that were chasing him; only to have them break free moments later. She swore softly as she realized just how weak her injury was making her. Before she could try again, Kokoa moved in and smashed the hollows with her Morningstar.

"Thank you Shuzen-san;" Hanataro patted "I came out here to heal those that needed it…"

He was cut off by a foot to the face.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YA THINKIN' YA BAKA?" Kokoa shouted at him.

"I just wanted to heal those that needed it so they could get to Orihime-san's barrier" as he held his bleeding nose.

His eyes finally noticed how Mizore was holding her arm and he rushed over to heal her. In a matter of seconds he had his medical bag opened, rubber gloves on, and was treating the injury while ignoring the noisy fights going on around him. The pain that had been crippling the yuki-ona was finally subsiding as the green glow around the medic's hands carefully traveled along her arm. She could feel the bone set itself and begin to mend with each moment.

"Try not to stress it on your way to Orihime-san" Hanataro warned as he quickly made a sling for her "for now that's the best I can do. I'm sorry."

"Thank you" Mizore said as she carefully flexed her fingers.

Before Hanataro could run off, he was grabbed by the back of his uniform by Kokoa.

"Yer not goin' anywhere without me;" she said "yer no good dead."

"Have you decided when you're going to kiss him yet?" Yukari joked as she launched several tort cards at a group of hollows charging towards them.

"HE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT KNOWS HOW TO TREAT INJURIES FROM THESE THINGS YA LITTLE BRAT!" the young vampire snapped.

"Thank you for being concerned;" Hanataro said with a small bow "I'd be thankful if you help me get to those that are injured."

"Go already!" Moka said as she kicked through another hollow.

With that Kokoa and Hanataro took off with the medic reaching out with his senses to locate injured persons. The red haired vampire changed Kyu into a katana again to help speed things up; a Morningstar was great for holding ground, but as far as getting from point A-to-B it was too bulky and slowed them down. She felt great respect for the medic she was escorting. When she had first met him he seemed to be a complete coward that would've done anything he could to avoid a situation like this; yet here he was, charging head first into a literal war zone. She knew that a few vampires wouldn't even brave that without a weapon they knew could do damage to the spirit monsters; Hanataro had told her the limitations of his zanpakuto after Mizore had been kidnapped.

Kokoa sliced through another hollow as they approached a small group of injured people. As she recovered from the swing, she had Kyu morph back into a Morningstar and back-swung into a smaller hollow. The creature was launched through the air as it vaporized causing several hollow to rethink their advance to the injured party. The young vampire took an aggressive stance as Hanataro put on a clean pair of gloves and began healing the students.

"Ya gotta be fuckin' kidding me!" Kokoa said as she saw more Garganta open up in the sky "as if this wasn't bad enough" while she knocked two hollows into each other "Kyu; sledgehammer."

The Bake-bake bat followed the order it was given and changed its form as it smashed against a rather large hollow. The hollow flew through the air as it vaporized into nothing but spirit particles. As she recovered from the swing, more and more hollows began to approach where they were; baring her fangs, she took an aggressive stance while two of the masked creatures jumped at her. Her eyes narrowed at the beasts just before she put all her strength into a swing and destroyed both their masks.

-Mizore-

The yuki-ona froze several hollows' feet on the ground allowing Ruby's plant creatures to easily kill the spirit beings. She and her friends were heading to Orihime like the Fourth Division shinigami had suggested. It annoyed her that she couldn't get close to fight the hollows but she was smart enough to know when to listen to a medic's advice. If she could get close she'd at least be able to do more damage than freezing hollows in place for Moka, Ruby, or Yukari to purify with their weapon and abilities respectively.

"Watch your heads!" they heard from above as a strange whip like blade slashed through a group of hollows that had jumped at them.

The group looked at the wielder of the strange blade and saw a red head with his hair up in a way that looked like a pineapple.

"Thank you shinigami-san;" Ruby said "progress is too slow getting Mizore to Orihime."

"Need me to…" he started to offer before he saw many more Garganta rip open and hollow rushed out near them "never mind. I'm not leaving you near that without either me or another shinigami here."

A bisected hollow fell to the ground next to them and a patting, and bloodied, Grimmjow sonido in front of another one that was rushing towards the group. He grabbed its opened mouth, twisted it to the ground as he snapped its neck and ripped off a piece of its mask in the process. As he put the piece of mask in his mouth and ate it, more hollows charged them from every angle; he grit his teeth in annoyance. This would be so much easier if Pantera would let him use resurrection like he wanted to. Not only would it heal his injuries to the point where he wouldn't be bleeding but he would be faster and stronger as well.

"I'm gettin' fuckin' pissed with his wave after wave shit;" Grimmjow said as he sliced through more hollows "I ain't got time to be dealin' with these fuckers."

"You need to get to Orihime;" Renji said as he whipped Zabimaru and slayed several hollows "take the yuki-ona with you. I'll make an opening" as he flicked his wrist and killed enough hollows to make the opening he promised.

Grimmjow grabbed Mizore and sonido away from the area; he was stuck babysitting again until he got to the human with the powers of a god.

-Urahara-

The former taichou blocked the hollow's massive fist with a hexagon barrier and didn't even budge as it slammed its second fist against it. The shop owner had a bored look on his face as he pushed the barrier back and sent a crimson wave of energy at it. His focus was protecting the students behind him while Yoruichi shunpo them two or three at a time to Orihime. His facial expression didn't change when he saw more Garganta open up and more hollows enter the academy grounds.

"I should probably start being serious;" in a monotone as he scratched his head through his hat.

-Kokoa and Hanataro-

The vampire bashed another hollow to the ground as the seventh seat of the Fourth Division continued to heal the group of people they came up on. Her breathing had become heavier and she was getting worn out; she wasn't used to fighting like this and hadn't built the necessary stamina to keep the pace that was being demanded. Recovering from the downward swing, she sent a hollow into the air before knocking a third to the side.

"How much longer?" she demanded to know as she looked at yet another wave heading towards them.

"I'm not sure;" Hanataro replied as he moved to the next patient.

Kokoa let an annoyed groan out as she took a defensive stance and waited for the hollows to get closer. She couldn't afford to waste energy charging towards them, and she felt she had a safe distance between her and the group Hanataro was healing. Her body's lack of energy was already starting to catch up to her and she was worried she wouldn't be able to last much longer.

"Naginatas;" she ordered Kyu.

The first hollow met the wide blade and vaporized into nothing as the red haired vampire smacked the next hollow away with the staff. Using the opening she put the butt of the weapon through the mask and spun it around to kill the hollow to her side. She began to go after another one, but a different one knocked the weapon from her hands and smacked her to the ground. Kokoa tried to back away from the creature as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough. The hollow raised its clawed hand and brought it down.

Before the sharp fingers hit her, she saw Hanataro come from nowhere and shielded her from the hollow. He let out a gasp of pain as the claws tore into his back and he fell to the ground next to her. The person she had been chasing for days, threatened to harm in dangerous ways, and other things that would cause someone to want her dead, had just saved her. Her eyes hardened at the hollow as she pulled the boy close to her and saw Kyu flying back to her. Right as the bat changed into a spear to drop onto the hollow, numerous pink flower petals appeared and killed the wave of hollows that were coming at her.

"Don't just sit there;" she heard a familiar voice say "stop the bleeding and get him to Inoue-san."

Kokoa followed Byakuya's order and dragged the bleeding shinigami back over to where his medical pack was. She knew enough to get the very least get the bleeding to stop long enough to get him to a proper medic. After finding the gauze she put pressure on the three large gashes down his back; she was worried there wasn't enough gauze as what she had put on already bled through. The sound of more hollows approaching came from all around as she put more and more bandages on the wounds.

Byakuya pointed his Shikai zanpakuto at the next wave that was massive and snarling as they rushed towards him. His eyes narrowed in annoyance as he managed to get a more exact number of the hollows approaching; well over three hundred. Just Shikai wasn't going to be enough if they got too close. Making a decision, he held his hilt in front of him and recalled the flower petal looking blades to recreate the fully sealed blade. He heard several students beg him to not stop as he flipped the blade over, pointing it to the ground and dropped it.

"Bankai;" he said in a monotone.

The blade disappeared into the ground as the hollows closed the distance between them and the students. Several jumped into the air towards both him and the students; only to be impaled by one of the dozen blades that appeared from the ground.

"Scatter; Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

The impaled hollows screamed in pain as the blades shattered into the petal like/sized blades. The fifty thousand blades flowed to the ground and around Byakuya's feet before he pointed his hand at the remaining hollow causing the blades to speed towards them. Now that he had released bankai, he could keep any number of hollow at bay while he waited for another person to show up to help treat the injured students.

-Tsukune-

The young shinigami put his armored shin through another hollow as he saw a larger wave of hollow began approaching the school. He took a deep breath as he readied himself for the continuing battle; his body was starting to feel sluggish from how long this had been dragging out. All his injuries had healed thanks to Akasha's ability and no new injuries had happened.

"Ketsujin;" he called out as he swung his blade at the large wave.

The red blade that he launched cleanly sliced through a number of hollows and continued going. The brown haired teen grew suspicious as several of the masked creatures stopped charging towards him; it wasn't an ease up and back away, it was a complete skid to a halt. Then he sensed someone with a massive reiatsu fast approaching. Spinning around he brought his Shikai up and blocked a zanpakuto that was coming at him; his eyes narrowed as he recognized the reiatsu as one of the ones that had helped kidnap his friends.

"Your presence in the yuki-ona village did little to hinder our plans;" Tia said coldly as she flicked her wrist and sent him flying away from her.

-Courtyard-

Isshin drew a line in the ground with the tip of his zanpakuto.

"They don't get within a hundred yards of this line;" he ordered in a serious tone "Chad, head to the infirmary. Tatsuki, find Soifon-taichou and help her how she tells you to. Uryu, help students get to Orihime's barrier. Ryuken and I will hold this position and keep those that get by you at bay."

Everyone nodded as they took off to where they were told to go.

"Right when I was about to complain about being pulled away from that meeting;" Ryuken said as he tossed his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it "don't think this makes us full time allies. It's still on an as needed basis and even then only when it can't be avoided."

"Wouldn't have it any other way my friend;" Isshin chuckled knowing it'd annoy his friend.

The former Quincy summoned his bow and aimed at the hollows that were charging towards them.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

The Head Master smiled as he finally set his machine to gather data on the Garganta that were being ripped open in his barrier. Now he and his mentor were walking through the battlefield to see how bad the damage was becoming. The Exorcist was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be, but the battle was far from over. Hollows that came near them were greeted by Fuhai's dimensional blade slicing them clean in half.

"**I never would've thought a battle of this size would ever be fought here again;"** the Head Master said **"I wonder why they are attacking."**

"Good question; judging by the three Espada level reiatsu I feel, this is a message at the very least."

A number of large hollows charged towards them.

"**It would be wise for you to stop;"** he warned them.

The hollows ignored him and continued charging; the two old warriors just starred at the creatures. Before they could get close, the masked creatures were crushed by a large dragon like Yokai and burned to a crisp by its fire breath. The Wyvern used its tail to slap another hollow to the ground and crunched its large teeth into the creature.

"**I tried to warn them;"** the Exorcist said with a smile and chuckle.


	38. Chapter 38

Tsukune forced himself to a stop after being thrown by the Espada that had attacked him; before he could completely stand up, he found himself blocking yet another attack from her. This time she didn't throw him like last time. Instead her eyes looked as though they were trying to figure something out. A part of him wanted to say she looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Why do you fight for the shinigami?" she questioned as she broke from their locked blades.

"I fight to protect my friends;" he replied as he blocked another swing of her sword "why'd you kidnap them?" while gritting his teeth as he tried to keep from sliding backwards.

"I was following orders."

Her eyes continued to look the teen up and down; his reiatsu felt the same, but it was vastly different as well. It was hard for her to be certain, but she wanted to say that this was him. The look in his eyes showed determination that was over powering the fear he felt, his physical strength was impressive considering she was trying to push him and he was able to resist, and his reiatsu was at the level of a taichou. Fujisaki said that Tsukune's inner hollow had killed his living body easily while Tsukune himself did little damage with even bankai released. She side stepped and separated from the boy.

"Stop holding back against me;" she ordered "dawn your hollowfication or release your bankai."

Tsukune swung at the female Espada only to have her easily block his downward swing. She continued to just stare at him while she lazily parried his blade to the side. The Arrancar kicked him in the gut and sent him skidding backwards; she was getting tired of having the teen holding back. Her eyes narrowed at him as he came to a stop; she needed to be certain. She had to get him to use his hollowfication.

"Do you know my rank?" she asked coldly.

Tsukune remained silent as he stood all the way up.

"In Aizen-sama's army the ten strongest Arrancar are called Espada;" she said as she reached for the zipper on her top "ten is the weakest, one is the strongest. My rank" as she unzipped her top and revealed her number "was three or Tres. I…"

She stopped in disbelief at what the teen was doing; holding his nose while his eyes were screwed shut. As she was about to question what he was doing, she noticed a red stream beginning to trickle down the white gauntlet holding his nose.

"Could you please zip your top back up?" Tsukune asked while keeping his eyes tightly shut.

"Do you really believe I would stoop so low as to expose my bare breasts in a battle? My mask fragment keeps me covered."

The shinigami carefully opened an eye to be sure. He saw that she was telling the truth and was covered; her mask fragment left very little to the imagination though. It was a strange mask fragment in the sense that it covered her mouth, nose, neck and a line along both of her breasts and barely covered her nipples; he noticed the three tattooed on the inside of her cleavage on her right breast. A massive blush still found its way to his cheeks as he tried to put himself back into the mindset to fight. He gulped a bit as he centered his blade again.

"As I was saying;" the Tres Espada continued in a monotone "I am strongest of the remaining Espada. Continue to hold back and you will die; now" as she centered her zanpakuto "release your bankai or dawn your hollowfication and fight me seriously."

Tsukune flipped his zanpakuto over and held it by the butt as he built up reiatsu. If what she said was true, then he had no choice but to release bankai if he expected to survive. In his mind he could feel Akasha's hand on his shoulder attempting to give him comfort; after what happened last time, she knew he needed a little. Both Tsukune and Akasha felt a little smug satisfaction in having convinced everyone that what he fought with in the yuki-ona village was bankai and Tsukune was alright with continuing to let people believe that.

"Bankai;" as red reiatsu covered his chest, arms, and legs.

Tia's eyes narrowed as she felt the change in his reiatsu; it no longer just flowed out of him at a barely controlled rate. Now it was perfectly controlled in the sense that it was being held within him. She doubted that the armor he was now wearing was keeping it in because she'd be able to feel it trying to seep out. An eyebrow rose as she noticed the sudden change in her opponent's hair length, it was almost to his ankles; her mind wandered to the possibility that the change in hair length had something to do with the flow rate. She quickly dismissed that thought though since it sounded rather ridiculous.

The Tres Espada vanished using sonido and attempted to get behind the teen. As she went to make a horizontal slash across his back, said teen blocked her blade with what felt like ease. Fujisaki had warned her that his bankai was something to be careful in facing, but she thought that was because the adopted son of Aizen was in a living body at the time he fought Aono. Her arm shook as she tried to push harder against the teen and only succeeded in pushing him backwards; his arm didn't budge from its position. Her eyes barely caught the movement of the shinigami's leg in time to sonido away from a kick aimed at her side.

As she recollected herself she felt a slight pain in her side. She knew she hadn't ripped her stitches open again, and it wasn't from Aono landing a hit because he hadn't. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the possibilities; out of what she thought of, only one seemed the most likely. That kick had so much power behind it that even though she dodged the actual hit, the fact that it nearly hit was enough to cause some damage. The theory made little since though, a shinigami's bankai shouldn't increase physical strength; it usually just increased their abilities. A thought dawned on her.

"I'm still curious as to why you fight for the shinigami when you aren't one;" as she attacked again "the drastic increase in your physical strength, the fact that you followed my movements while using sonido, and even your reiatsu. This seems less like a shinigami bankai and more like an Arrancar Resurreccion."

Tsukune parried the Espada's attacks as he tried to ignore what she was saying. He didn't care what his 'bankai' seemed to me more like; it was allowing him to fight and protect his friends. That's all he really cared about; the strength Akasha gave him meant he could be the protector for once instead of the one needing protected.

He didn't feel the cut in his arm or it rapidly heal as he threw a punch at the female Arrancar. He did notice the slightly surprised look on his opponent's face as her eyes shook a little from what she saw. The cut had been all the way down to the bone and he completely ignored it even as it healed and continued fighting. She had only heard about an ability such as this in hushed whispers in Hueco Mundo, this kind of ability should only belong to the most powerful of vampires; those of the immediate Shinso bloodline. The female Espada sonido away from the boy and fired a cero towards him.

Tsukune readied his blade and blocked the cero with ease. As it started to push him back, he flicked his wrist and sent it towards a group of hollow that were observing the fight. When his sight was no longer obscured by the cero, he saw the Tres Espada right in front of him. He couldn't bring his blade back to block fast enough and had his throat slit in on swift swing of her arm. In the brief moment of shock he was experiencing, the Arrancar put her zanpakuto through the center of his chest and heart.

Tia pulled her blade from her opponent's chest and kicked him away from her; she had honestly expected more from him. Fujisaki had said that this boy had amazing potential and could be of great use, but she had just proven otherwise. Of course, if Aono was like Kurosaki then such a life threatening injury would force his hollow to take control to save itself. Her eyes narrowed to the boy's body on the ground as she let herself slowly descend to him; nothing was changing in his reiatsu, there was no dark feel to it, nothing to suggest he was about to be possessed. Where her blade pierced his body continued to bleed and the slice in his throat continued to hiss; there was nothing more she could think of that could draw his inner hollow out.

She turned her back to the boy and started to walk away; the sound of movement behind her caused her to stop. Right as she turned to investigate, a powerful kick was landed against her stomach and sent her head over heels bouncing across the ground. A mistake had been made on her part and she knew it; she underestimated the healing factor that Aono's bankai gave him and was paying the price for it. She desperately tried to force herself to stop flipping across the ground by compressing spirit particles under her free hand and feet. Her eyes widened as she saw that she had easily been knocked four hundred meters from where she once stood. Her, the Tres Espada, the strongest Arrancar after the Winter War, had been kicked away almost like it was nothing.

As she managed to make herself stop, she noticed her opponent was right on top of her ready to bring his blade down. A burst of sonido allowed her to put some distance between herself and the shinigami. A pain suddenly made itself known to her where she had been hit; it wasn't crippling but it still hurt like hell. In her current state, she knew she wouldn't be able to defeat Aono.

"Destroy; Tiburon" as she built up her reiatsu.

-Ruby-

The witch summoned more of her plants and ordered them to attack the incoming wave of hollows. Before her was a small battle of hollows and her plant creatures; for the moment her side was winning but she wasn't sure how long that would last because of the number of Garganta that had opened up recently. She flipped through her book and summoned crows and ravens to see how far out the next wave of hollows was. If she was lucky she'd have plenty of time to finish off the group in front of her long before the wave would arrive.

The birds showed her that she didn't have as much time as she was hoping for; she'd be lucky to get down to a tenth of the current wave before the next one showed up. After that it'd be a whole new ball game as the approaching wave was twice the size of the one she was dealing with. She grit her teeth in annoyance; even with all her plants, it might not be enough. There was little she could do as the new wave came into sight. She readied her wand and prepared to have to get closer than she'd like to fight. As she started to prepare a spell, a blue arrow flew past her head and into the first hollow of the wave.

Her eyes shook in horror as she watched the hollow get destroyed by the arrow. She knew a Quincy had fired at the masked creature in order to help her, but it still infuriated her. She looked back and saw a black haired teen no older than Tsukune wearing the standard Quincy outfit and glasses with a strange web looking spirit bow. For the moment she had to put her anger aside and focus on the important thing, keeping the campus safe. Charging up a large ball of pure Nature's Energy, she took aim at the group of hollows tangled up with her plants and fired; effectively purifying most of the group and freeing up a lot of her plants.

The two didn't say a word to each other as they focused on the wave of hollows that was fast approaching. Ruby did everything she could to purify as many hollows as she could before the Quincy was able to completely destroy them.

-Tatsuki-

The human teenager put her fist through another hollow as she followed the trail of reiatsu Soifon-taichou had left behind. It was a thin line to follow but she was managing even with the number of hollows around. It reminded her of how thin Ichigo's reiatsu trail became when he used shunpo; his wasn't this thin though, this Soifon-taichou must be faster than Ichigo. She groaned as she wondered if this trail was even in the right direction anymore; then she lost the trail suddenly.

As she dodged to the right and avoided getting hit by a hollow, she made note to see if the shop owner could put in some sort of head's up display. She was still new to sensing exactly where someone, or something, was and it would help a lot. Upper cutting a hollow she saw a black wave of reiatsu get thrown into the sky towards a wave of hollows; she quickly changed direction and started heading to the person that fired it. When she got close to the person that fired it, she saw Orihime on the inside of her barrier that was around what looked to be a living area.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki called out.

The orange haired teen looked at her with confusion and shock.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he questioned as he shunpo next to her "and what's with the armor?"

"Urahara made it, and I don't have time to explain" she retorted "I need to get to a Soifon-taichou fast and I lost her reiatsu trail."

A large hollow jumped towards the two; Ichigo readied his bankai to block, only to have someone else blindside the creature.

"Keep yer eyes open Kurosaki;" Grimmjow spat "ya still owe me a fight."

"IS THAT THE GUY THAT TRIED TO KILL YOU?!" she shouted in anger as she grabbed Ichigo by his cloak.

Ichigo wrapped his arm around her waist and shunpo up into the air in time to dodge a series of spikes. He continued moving as more and more projectiles from numerous hollows were launched at him. Narrowing his eyes as he knocked every spike, feather, spine, and other projectiles from the air and let loose another Getsuga Tensho.

"Soifon should be helping Byakuya;" Ichigo said as he shunpo back to the ground "feels like he released bankai too. Grimmjow, I'll be right back."

The panther didn't get a chance to respond before Ichigo shunpo away from the barrier with his human friend. When he arrived he put his friend down; then his eyes shook as he noticed Hanataro on the ground bleed badly from wounds on his back. He saw the red haired vampire trying to stop the bleeding with gauze but couldn't.

"Byakuya, you know medical kido right?" he asked.

"Foolish question;" the noble replied "every taichou does."

"Hanataro's wounds are too deep for gauze to stop the bleeding;" as he launched a Getsuga Tensho "Tatsuki and I can hold the hollows off if you heal him."

Byakuya looked back at the medic briefly and saw that the boy was right; he nodded as he shunpo over and began treating the gashes. He didn't need to recall his bankai since it was a well rounded in both offensive and defensive abilities. The concerned look on the red haired girl's face didn't go unnoticed by him.

"There is no need to panic;" he said calmly as the wound began to close "this injury is easy to treat with kido. There should be a small jar of black pills in his bag, bring them here."

Kokoa nodded as she quickly searched through the bag. There were several other containers of various liquids, pills, and powders but she couldn't seem to find what she was looking for. As she emptied the bag completely, she saw the jar mentioned fall from its hiding place and onto the ground. The label showed it was a blood replenisher pill of some sort.

"He needs to swallow it;" Byakuya said as she rushed back to him.

The young vampire's eyes looked at the unconscious medic then back to the taichou. With the shinigami unconscious there weren't many ways to get him to swallow a pill; even one that was small like the ones she had in her hand. There were no fluids in sight that could be used to make him subconsciously gulp and swallow them. That left holding his nose to make him swallow and one other way, but he had lost too much blood to risk cutting off air.

"How… exactly is he supposed to do that?" she asked hoping she didn't know the answer.

"He's in no condition for forcing a swallow;" the noble said as his bankai stopped a hollow that got pass Ichigo and his friend "you need to make him swallow it by carefully putting it at the back of his mouth. The best method to do that is by kissing the patient."

"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?" she shouted at him.

"He's lost too much blood and could go into shock soon;" in a slightly cold tone "this is a matter of life and death. Put your personal feelings aside."

Kokoa became beet red as she opened up the jar and put a couple pills in her mouth while the shinigami taichou flipped Hanataro over. Her first kiss wasn't going to be how she expected it to be; trip to a carnival, Ferris wheel ride with an awesome view and at the top the kiss.

"Ya better be damn thankful for this;" she said out of the corner of her mouth to Hanataro as she pulled him close to her.

The vampire quickly put her lips against his and forced his mouth open so the pills could fall in; she knew if she would've hesitated for even a second she would've backed out. She waited for the medic to gulp, but got nothing; the pills didn't fall back far enough. A muscle near her nose twitched in annoyance as she knew what this meant. She was going to have to use her tongue to finish putting the pills where they needed to be. Again, she didn't hesitate and did what needed to be done; it took her a little maneuvering but she managed to get the pills to where they needed to be.

She gasped for air as she pulled away from the unconscious shinigami while he swallowed the pills. Her face was a deeper shade of red than before and she mentally swore to never mention this around the witch brat; who would have a field day if she ever found out.

"Kurosaki" Byakuya said "start taking students to Inoue-san's barrier."

Ichigo nodded as he shunpo over to the group, grabbed a couple of them, and vanished.

-Tsukune-

The teen locked blades with the Espada as they went to attack each other. His chest and back plates were destroyed because of the various attacks that his opponent hit him with. He was surprised to find out that her Resurreccion allowed her to control water; as well as make it boiling hot. At first he was afraid that his bankai would cause him to end up like a vampire getting hit by water, but was glad that wasn't the case. The Espada's sudden wardrobe change didn't help at all either. Her mask fragment and attire had completely changed; what was once just a suggestive top with normal pants was now a short skirt made of bone like material with a matching bra like top and her zanpakuto became a massive clever like blade.

Of course he managed to get a number of hits in himself, but nothing serious enough to really hinder his opponent. She had a couple bruises, minor cuts along her arms, torso, and a nick on her cheek. It seemed like she was holding back against him though. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something seemed familiar about her other than her being the one that kidnapped his friends.

"Having trouble?" she asked him as she sent a wave of water from her blade.

She wasn't taunting in the slightest; she was truly curious. With everything he's been through in the past couple days it wouldn't surprise her in the least. The rescue of his friends, which had three major fights, training with the visoreds, and now this; the fact that he could still stand was impressive. Her eyes widened a lot when Aono emerged from the water she sent at him; he finally caved and dawned his hollowfication and she was right. It was him.

"_**I was hoping not to have to use this;"**_ he confessed in a raspy, watered tone _**"it makes me feel uneasy. I just hope Akasha-chan can forgive me for combining it with her bankai."**_

There was a burst of sonido and he was right on top of her bringing his blade down. Her eyes widened further as she went to block and was sent skidding towards the ground. Again, it wasn't the strength of his reiatsu that was throwing her off guard; it was that she kept forgetting that his physical strength with his bankai surpassed hers while her zanpakuto was sealed. When she released her Resurreccion her strength was greater than his, but now that he was wearing that mask it was back to how it was. If this were a battle of raw strength her opponent would win, but since they were both relying heavily on skill she was looking like the one that would emerge victorious.

"It seems I was right;" as she skid to a stop twenty feet above the ground "but you don't remember. Do you?" as she sonido behind him.

Tsukune blocked her large blade and flipped over hoping to land a kick to her head. She ducked down and threw him behind her with a push of her arm.

"_**Remember what?"**_ as he watched her fire a large cero at him.

He brought up his zanpakuto and was pushed backwards as the cero met his weapon. He swore in his mask as he tried desperately to redirect the cero; even with the strength he had it didn't seem to be enough. Digging deep, he forced himself to slow down and yelled as he threw the cero into the air as he pushed his blade up. The cero no more left the edge of his blade and his mask shattered. To make matters worse, the Espada was directly in front of him ready to swing her massive blade.

-Kurumu-

The succubus let her head stop spinning from Ulquiorra using sonido to get her to her friends. She felt the Arrancar flare his reiatsu and cause the hollows that were once attacking Moka, Yukari, and Mizore to retreat to safety. As she managed to make her head stop spinning, she saw her friends charging towards the Arrancar next to her.

"WAIT!" Kurumu practically shouted "he saved me."

Ulquiorra didn't flinch as Moka stopped her leg inches from his face. Kurumu was glad she did so; she knew the most about hollows and Arrancars out of her friends. If Moka's kick had landed it would've been a repeat of what happened when she kicked the blonde haired woman. She didn't want to think about what would've happened to Mizore or Yukari if they had continued to attack.

"A wise choice" Ulquiorra said "you'd just hurt yourself attacking me. These hollows are organized, far too organized for a mere Adjuchas to be in command. That explains it;" as he widened his senses "Harribel is here. She's fighting against…" an eyebrow rose in confusion "one that is a shinigami but not a shinigami?"

The reiatsu he felt from whoever was fighting had a strange feel to it. A part of it seemed to be hollow, or at least very hollow like, and the other part was shinigami. The two parts were conflicting a lot like a visoreds reiatsu would, but it didn't have the same feel as a visored's reiatsu. Even Ichigo's reiatsu when he used his hollowfication held a firm tie to shinigami power; this reiatsu was as close to perfectly balanced as it could get. Not even Aizen had been able to turn a hollow so shinigami, or vise versa, that the reiatsu felt so balanced.

A blade landed in the dirt not far from them and a small thud was heard. The girls looked towards the sound and saw a severed arm laying on the ground. Moka's eyes widened in horror as the smell of the blood hit her nose; the arm was Tsukune's. She felt tears of anger form as she looked in the sky for Tsukune and saw him get ran through by a large blade before he was thrown to the ground next to them. Something snapped and she felt a strange power flowing in her; the last time she remembered feeling this sort of power was when Ruby nearly killed Tsukune while on the Witch's Noll.

Tia sonido to the ground next to Aono's blade and could see the rage on the group of girls' faces. Before any of them could move though, Ulquiorra stopped them by stepping between them and her. She was surprised to see the Cuarto Espada alive; she had heard that Kurosaki killed him.

"Attacking her while she is in her Resurreccion would only end in your death;" he said in his usual monotone "besides, if he were dead or dying then his zanpakuto would revert to a completely sealed state" as he pointed at the blade beside Tia "it's not."

Each of the girls looked at Tsukune's body and saw the massive hole in his torso that his opponent made start to heal. Fibers of muscle, skin, internal organs, tendons, and even bone began to regenerate. In no time the entire wound was gone causing the girls to stare in disbelief of what was happening. Tsukune suddenly sat up in a jolt and gasped for air before grabbing the stub of an arm he had left thanks to the female Espada. He looked around and found the other part of his arm; as he aliened it with its other half he felt the fibers mend themselves.

He noticed a male Arrancar standing with his back to them; before he could question who he was, he sonido from his spot. Mere moments later, two figures crashed into the ground where he once stood. Before the dust cleared, the two separated from each other revealing a Vasto Lorde and a tall Arrancar. Both looked greatly injured and bloodied from their battle but didn't physically look like they were about to stop fighting. Tsukune's gaze turned back to the Tres Espada and he took a low Hakuda stance with one arm curved over his head; something Akasha had showed him.

Tia reached out with her senses and felt that it was time to withdraw from Yokai Academy. With Kurosaki's hollow right there ready to continue battling once he got over seeing Cifer, remaining within the barrier that surrounded the school would most likely end horribly. She used her free hand to pull her opponent's blade and toss it to him as she sealed her zanpakuto once again.

"We're withdrawing from Yokai Academy;" she said as she sheathed her blade "consider this victory yours Aono Tsukune. Gilga we're retreating; Ulquiorra, I assume you will be joining us."

"Yer just gonna leave?!" Nnoitora mocked her "if yer too weak ta kill one pathetic shinigami yerself all ya had ta do was ask."

The mantis Arrancar moved to attack Tsukune but was stopped by a fist in his gut followed by a hand grabbing his face and then being slammed on the ground.

"You were given an order" the Cuarto Espada said coldly as he stood up from slamming his ally on the ground "it would be wise for you to follow it. Stay here and you will face the consequences and remember, should you survive battling Kurosaki's hollow you would still have nine taichou level shinigami and three fuku-taichou, Jagerjaquez, plus the two Quincy that are here to fight."

Nnoitra lost consciousness with those words; causing the bat like Arrancar to have an annoyed look on his face.

"**Like hell I'm gonna let ya walk away!"** Hichigo shouted as he went to attack the Cuarto Espada but was stopped by a barrier.

"**It would be wise to simply let them leave;"** the head master said **"at the moment none of my students have been killed as a result of this attack; something you should be grateful for"** while looking at the Tres Espada **"in a matter of seconds my barrier will readjust itself to prevent the hollows on my campus from opening a Garganta. This will cause them to be trapped here where they will be hunted down like animals and slaughtered; don't think the same won't happen to you should you remain within the barrier."**

Ulquiorra picked up the taller Arrancar with ease and threw him over his shoulder as Tia opened a Garganta. He started walking towards the rift to meet back with his pupil and other allies.

"After saving us" he heard Kurumu ask softly with concern "you're just going to leave?"

"This is the path I must walk;" he answered as he stopped just before the opening "I chose this long ago and I cannot simply deviate from it. Only one person has the strength to end it and in order to fight him on that level, I must oppose him in war. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you again before that time;" as he stepped into the Garganta "farewell Kurono Kurumu."

With that the Garganta closed; Tsukune noticed the look in the Tres Espada's eyes as it happened. She didn't need to say a word to get the message across; there was more he couldn't remember than he thought and he was more like an Arrancar than a shinigami. His abilities reflected that and he knew it, but that didn't matter to him; while he was at Yokai Academy when he was alive he was the only human in a school of creatures of legend. While that did bother him a little, he had friends that helped him through it; just like he does now.

"We need to finish dealing with the hollows on campus;" Tsukune said as he started walking towards a large group of hollows.

He didn't get far before a hand grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and a second hand smacked him across the face. His eyes caught every motion as it happened; it was Moka that had grabbed and smacked him. She had every reason to. What he didn't expect though was her burying her head in his shoulder as she hugged him. He wrapped his arm around her as he rested his head against hers; he could finally stop lying to them and be friends again without being fearful of Ghoul trying to take over. In no time he was practically tackled by the group of girls; luckily his zanpakuto was still released and his strength was enough to keep from being knocked to the ground. Sadness filled him as he knew that as soon as the hollows were taken care of he'd have to leave yet again.

-Fujisaki and Gyokuro-

The young man moved his knight on the chessboard as he wondered what his opponent was planning. She had been calculating every move on a level that would surely impress Aizen, and had shown no emotion to give her plan away at all. The blonde vampire moved her rook; which he responded to by taking it with a bishop. He suddenly regretted that move when Gyokuro took it with her queen and had him in an impossible situation. He could take the queen with his pawn, which would leave his king open to her other rook, or leave her queen in position to take his king in only two more turns. His eyes steadily went over the board hoping to see something that was missed; only to discover nothing.

"You don't see the move?" Gyokuro asked as she sipped her wine.

"No;" he admitted as he tipped his king over admitting defeat "of course you have more experience playing chess than I do."

"Look for it;" Gyokuro ordered as she put his king back up "this is how you learn. Besides, this is only a friendly game; I won't care if you take all night searching for it."

As Fujisaki leaned in closer to the board, a Garganta was ripped open in the room causing both to look towards it. The two weren't surprised to see Tia or Nnoitora; Tia's condition was a little bit of a shock to them though. What did surprise them was seeing Ulquiorra carrying the Quinto Espada over his shoulder before he unceremoniously dropped the mantis Arrancar to the ground.

"Senpai;" Gyokuro said with a relieved smile on her face "it's been a while."

"Forty three years if I recall correctly;" he answered "I sensed what I believe to be your child at Yokai Academy."

"If I may;" Fujisaki said "could this wait till after the report what they found?"

"Of course;" the vampire replied before gesturing to Tia to go ahead.

"Aono's reiatsu is at taichou level;" the Tres Espada began "even after battling the doppelganger and numerous other hollows he was able to sense and block my initial attack. This suggests to me that his stamina is at least equal to that of a third seat officer. You were right in your assumption that he achieved bankai; from my understanding in less time than even Kurosaki. Its abilities include immense strength, a healing factor that possibly surpasses even Ulquiorra's, and in increase in vision; he was able to track my movements while I used sonido while he was standing still. I am still unsure as to the point of the armor but it may be like a Hierro as I felt resistance when landing blows against it.

As for his hollowfication; you were right in assuming he went to the visoreds for training to learn how to use it. The mask was just like in his reiatsu little over a week ago; only it had black flames on the right side. I believe he doesn't wish to use it though."

"Please explain;" Fujisaki said as he looked at the chessboard again.

"He said 'I just hope Akasha-chan can forgive me for combining it with her bankai'."

The chessboard was suddenly smacked across the room by Gyokuro; who seemed to have the fires of hell behind her. The rage in her eyes knew no equal and her reiatsu flared so high that it began to crack the glass in the room.

"And you didn't kill him?" the vampire hissed.

"That wasn't my assignment Shuzen-sama;" Harribel replied calmly.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO HIS ZANPAKUTO SPIRIT IS?!"

"Judging by your reaction," Ulquiorra said entering the conversation to keep his pupil calm "as well as his bankai's abilities and what I felt of his reiatsu; I would believe it to be a safe assumption to say his zanpakuto spirit is the one person you despise the most. Akasha Bloodriver; mother of Akashiya Moka."

"Even in death that bitch stands in my way;" as she downed her wine in a single gulp.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Tsukune and his friends walked towards the dorms; after the Tres Espada left no more hollows appeared within the barrier and the ones already there became disorganized. This made it far easier to track them down and slay them. Tsukune could feel the Charm ability warring off but thanks to his pseudo-bankai it wasn't a problem. Even for moments when that wasn't enough, his friends caught him from tumbling to the ground. Moka had to keep a little distance because of the amount of blood on his body and in his ankle length hair; when she got too close the powerful smell would make her dizzy.

One thing that had everyone confused was Kurumu's insistence on keeping a monkey like hollow as a pet, claiming that she had control of it because of her Allure. She had even done the old circus trick of putting her head in its mouth to prove a point; even against Tsukune's protests about it. They decided to wait and see what the Head Master thought about it. As they approached Orihime's barrier, he saw just about everyone was at it. The taichou went to slay the hollow Kurumu had under her control, but the Head Master stopped them and allowed the succubus to keep it.

"Is that your bankai?" Byakuya asked as he looked at Tsukune.

"Yes Kuchiki-taichou" he answered "it kept me alive when I fought the Tres Espada."

"I knew it was her reiatsu I felt;" Toshiro said "she…" getting a little red in the face as he turned away in embarrassment "showed you her rank?"

Tsukune turned even reder than the young taichou as he nodded; causing everyone to look at him in confusion. Grimmjow quickly knew what it meant and grumbled under his breath about the female Espada being a closet pervert. The panther was pushed aside by one of Ichigo's friends.

"Tsukune…?"

"Tatsuki" he said with a small smile.

That smile was punched off his face as he fell to the ground; the brown haired teen held his face and his Yokai friends nearly got up in arms about what just happened. They quickly settled down when the black haired teen girl kneeled next to him and hugged him with tears running down her face. This caused all of them, even Soifon, to question who she was.

"I thought…" as she buried her head in his shoulder "I was worried you had become a hollow."

"It's ok sis;" he said softly "I'm safe."

"SIS?!" all of them shouted in confusion.

"Half sister actually;" Tsukune said as he rubbed his head.

"Didn't realize you had a brother;" Ichigo said "or that it would've been Tsukune."

That comment got him a solid punch to the face. Tatsuki knew what the orange haired teen meant by that; he had known her brother long enough to be able to say that.

"You met him several times!" she yelled at him as she put him in an arm bar "he came to watch major karate tournaments I was in. The two of you got along great;" as she pulled against his arm harder "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME HE WAS IN THE SOUL SOCIETY?!"

"**Ta think,"** Hichigo sighed **"the king is gettin' his ass kicked by a dyke."**

A vein visibly throbbed in Tatsuki's forehead at that comment; she let go of Ichigo and went after his hollow. As she threw a punch, he simply moved his head to the side with a smug grin on his face. Every attempt after that had the same result with laughter coming from Hichigo. Becoming annoyed with the situation, the teenage girl resorted to hitting below the belt causing Hichigo to drop to the ground in pain while cussing at her. His beating didn't stop as she twisted his arm behind his back and started to give kidney shots; using one of his clawed feet he tripped her to the ground and scrambled for cover behind his Queen.

"**Deal with it bitch"** as he stuck his tongue out at her from the safety of behind Orihime.


	39. Chapter 39

The comical scene of Hichigo using Orihime as a barrier continued as he side stepped with her in an attempt to get away from the angry black belt. That did little to soothe Tatsuki's rage; if anything it seemed to only add to it. Even Byakuya had a smirk as the Vasto Lorde cowered in fear of the human girl.

"My son's manhood is gone;" a voice cried out in mock shame "cowering from a girl that's weaker than him! Masaki where did I go wrong?!"

Everyone looked to the source of the voice and saw a black haired shinigami with a white cloak attached to his shoulder. Everyone could tell he was a taichou, or at least used to be. None picked up on it faster than Toshiro and Matsumoto as she showed up with Ginnei. Her eyes widened and began to fill with tears in complete disbelief at who she was seeing.

"Shiba-taichou…?" the white haired taichou asked in complete disbelief.

Isshin looked at the boy and smiled.

"You've grown a bit;" with a softer smile as he ruffled the boy's hair "it's good to see you in person again instead of feeling your reiatsu on my daughter."

Toshiro's eyes went wide when the meaning hit him; he gulped a bit in slight fear as he realized that not only was Karin the sister of the Hero of the Winter War, but also his taichou's daughter. He heard his taichou chuckle at how he was looking; this caused Toshiro to loosen up and let a small laugh escape him in relief. He was glad to know at least his humor hadn't changed, but he wondered if the man was still a major pervert. As the former taichou turned to look at his son, he was tackled to the ground and held in a death grip of a hug. He looked down and saw strawberry blonde hair on his chest that had a weeping sound coming from it.

"How's it been Rangiku?" as he gently stroked her head.

"Like you don't know;" as she hit her fist against his chest "you just…" as tears continued to flow from her eyes before she buried her head against his chest again.

"Sorry I didn't visit when I was in the Soul Society after my good for nothing son decided to take a month long nap;" in a somewhat playful tone.

This earned him a smack to the face from Rangiku.

"This is the first time in over twenty years I've seen you;" as rage filled her teary eyes "and you try to be a jokester and call your son good for nothing?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Byakuya face palmed as he knew what this meant; Ichigo's real surname wasn't Kurosaki like everyone had believed, but Shiba. This made the boy a noble, one that didn't act like he was expected to. Much like a certain woman he knows. He heard a static boom next to him and looked to see Ichigo's hollow with an eat shit grin on his face. It was obvious that the hollow version of Ichigo had connected the dots as well.

"**HA!"** as he pointed in Byakuya's face **"big bad noble flower boy ain't got shit on me! How's it feel Mr. High-and-mighty, Mr. Hey-you-get-away-from-my-sakura-tress, to know that we're the same in social standing? Mr. Attitude gonna break down knowing that the guy that royally kicked his ass is also a noble?"**

Byakuya remained silent as he cast a Rikujokoro effectively immobilizing the teen. He looked at Yachiru and got an idea.

"Yachiru," with an evil smile "doesn't Kurosaki's hollow look like one of the dry erase boards?"

The small fuku-taichou looked at the photonegative of Ichigo and smiled when she realized he was right. She quickly pulled out a box of markers and hopped onto one of the beams of light holding Hichigo in place. Fear filled the Vasto Lorde as the small girl pulled out a black marker and playfully smiled as she thought of drawing ideas.

"**I'll rip ya limb from limb flower boy; do ya hear me?! Yer dead, I'll make ya wish Ichigo had let me kill ya last year when I had the chance!"**

Byakuya only smirked as the once pale white teen slowly turned into a canvas for a little girl; that smirk only grew when he saw Aono's half sister join in. His eyes caught the normal Ichigo looking like he was keeping from doing something; knowing what he did of the boy, it was probably going to involve punching his father at least once. The boy was showing restraint for the time being, most likely to allow his father time to catch up with Toshiro and his fuku-taichou.

Moka just looked at the scene and wished that her family could've been more like the comedy filled group. She was brought out of that thought when she noticed her sister wasn't with the group.

"Where's Kokoa?" she asked as she also looked for the medic she took off with.

"Red hair, knee high stockings?" Ichigo asked getting a nod from the silver haired vampire "she insisted on having me take her and Hanataro to the infirmary instead of to Orihime. She said something about blood replenishing pills and didn't want to risk Orihime's ability doing more harm than good; which is impossible" in a grumble.

-Infirmary; Kokoa-

The young vampire fought to stay awake as she watched the medical shinigami's chest rise and fall steadily with each breath. She was worn out from fighting the numerous waves of hollows and had barely made it to the chair before her legs gave out from exhaustion. The sound of the heart monitor beeping was slowly putting her to sleep and it was annoying her; then again, it was only adding to existing annoyance. After all the training she had done, she had Kyu knocked from her hands like it was nothing and was almost turned into a meal. What annoyed her even more wasn't the fact that she had to be saved, but rather that someone that should've hated her and wanted her dead was the one that saved her. The medic had every right to want her dead, but saved her; she couldn't understand why he did it.

A groan escaped the boy on the bed and got her attention; she pushed herself off the chair and went over to the bed to see if he was waking up. She managed to get over to the bed just in time to see him take a deep breath and open his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked as he looked around and saw where he was.

"You stopped a hollow from killing me;" as she sat on the bed "but you were hurt and…" tears of mixed emotion began to form in her eyes "I don't understand. Why did you save me when I've been nothing but a bitch to you? I've threatened you, chased you with plans to beat the living hell out of you, and…" her fists clenched the bed sheets tightly "you saved me. Why damn it?"

"I'm a medic;" as he sat up "when I treat people they trust me to do my best to help them get better. If I can't look pass things like that then I would be a poor medic. Besides, I'm used to much worse; the Fourth Division is often given duties no other division will want and we often get picked on because of that. I'm sorry;" in a sad tone.

"Why are you sorry?" as she wiped her face free of tears.

"I wasn't good enough to treat them fast enough to keep moving;" without looking at her "I'm the seventh seat of the Fourth Division and I can't even heal a group of people fast enough to…"

He was cut off by a slap across the face that put him on the floor on the other side of a fuming Kokoa. He let out a small hiss of pain as the IV needle was ripped from his arm and he barely missed hitting the cabinet that held the heart monitor. Ever since he had arrived at Yokai Academy he had heard of a vampire's strength, but never would've thought that they were _that_ strong. As he looked up he saw the red head round the end of the bed and look down at him before grabbing him by his shirt and angrily hefting him up to eye level.

"You have no idea what it's like to never be good enough;" the anger in her voice obvious "I'm the youngest of my siblings and I was always expected to be able to fight them on equal ground. I could never land a single hit on any of them, and the only one that would ever come at me seriously was Onee-sama. Every time I'd fight her, I'd end up so sore I could barely move the next day. No matter how much training I did, I couldn't even touch her. So…" tears began to roll down her face "don't… don't you think you… you know what it's like" as he smacked his chest repeatedly and began sobbing "to never be good enough."

The young vampire erupted into crying as she continued to hit his chest. As the blows slowed down she began to collapse to the floor; Hanataro wrapped his arms around the red head and pulled her close while easing them down. This wasn't the first time the seventh seat had someone break down in front of him; it was fairly common when a patient was told they were no longer medically fit enough to continue regular duty, something women seemed to handle better than men.

Kokoa kept sobbing against Hanataro's chest while he held her and they sat on the floor. That had been the first time she ever mentioned that; her most dreaded thoughts. It was never enough growing up, but she always pushed herself because Moka actually took her seriously in a fight. That was why she had such high admiration of the S-rank vampire. It felt oddly good to finally get that off her chest and let off some steam. She never would've thought that it would be the person she was crying on to hear her finally say it.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired teen put his zanpakuto next to the table as he sat down and eyed the food on it; for some reason he couldn't get it to revert to its fully sealed state and was having to wear the 'skirt' portion causing Grimmjow to pick on him. His stomach let out a growl agreeing with what he was thinking; it looked delicious. There were simple dishes such as grilled chicken, salmon, and beef as well as dishes he had never seen before that looked like they belonged in a five star restaurant. His mouth watered as his nose was bombarded by the smells; he suddenly felt like he hadn't eaten in years.

"**Feel free to eat as much as you want;"** the head master said with a smile **"consider it a thank you."**

"Several hollows slipped away after the Tres Espada left" Toshiro said "there could very well still be almost a hundred left on your campus."

"**And the moment they increase their reiatsu to attack someone they will be located and slain. As for the ones that left the barrier, they will be unable to return thanks to the modifications made. It won't keep more from showing up, but it will limit the number that wish to use guerilla tactics; once they show up, they will be stuck here until they are dealt with."**

"Who wants to try to eat more than the 'All You Can Eat Champ'?" Yoruichi asked as she sat down across from Tsukune, who shrugged his shoulders, with a grin.

"**Yer on!"** Hichigo said as he quickly sat down near her; luckily he had managed to get the marker off his face.

Yoruichi looked over to Byakuya.

"I refuse to degrade myself in such a manner for your amusement;" as he walked away.

Before they could start Uryu appeared with a sudden halt of Hirenkyaku. The young Quincy seemed irritated by something as he adjusted his glasses in a more aggressive manner than usual. As Orihime went to ask him what was wrong, Ruby landed and had a similar look on her face as they Quincy. Her anger seemed to increase as Uryu narrowed his eyes at her.

"What is your issue with me?" he asked her bluntly.

"Why would I have an issue with a traitorous Quincy such as yourself?" she shot back sarcastically.

That comment caught everyone's attention, even Isshin's, and annoyed Uryu even more.

"I would expect more gratitude seeing how I saved you from at least a dozen hollows;" as he crossed his arms "had I not arrived when I did your plant things wouldn't have been enough."

Ruby didn't say anything as she walked over to him, took off his glasses and then smacked him across the face causing an echo through the area. Everyone just stared in disbelief at what had just happened; Ruby, a complete masochist and submissive who usually had control over her emotions, had just slapped someone out of anger.

"**Four eyes just got bitch slapped;"** Hichigo laughed.

The Head Master bound them both in a spell, walked over to the two and took Ruby's wand and Uryu's Quincy Cross. This caused protest from the two which was quickly silenced by a dark glare.

"**Until you two can play nice,"** he said **"neither of you will be allowed to access your abilities on my campus. When you two can, then you may ask for your items back. Toujo-san, please report to the infirmary and obtain full details on recent injuries as a result of the attack;"** Ruby nodded as she was freed from the spell and left **"as for you…"**

"Ishida Uryu" he introduced himself and was released.

"**Ishida-san; if you wish to know why Toujo-san's angry with your kind then I suggest you do research in the library. Show the librarian this"** as he gave the boy a card **"and you will have access to books that are near a millennia old. In this collection you will discover more about your kind than any living know; you might even see just how much you have in common with my assistant."**

"Didn't expect that;" Mizore said as the Quincy left.

"The rules are simple;" everyone heard in a borderline jolly tone "you throw up you lose. To signal you're done eating, you clasp your hands together like this" Urahara said as he demonstrated "there will be no ties and the winner will be decided by the number of plates in front of them."

Tsukune gulped starting to feel fearful of what he had just gotten himself into. He wanted to be concerned about Ruby but his hunger was getting the best of him. His mind wondered to the possibility that it had something to do with his pseudo bankai's healing ability; being able to heal from being ran through twice like he was had to have a drawback of some sort.

"Begin" Urahara cheered.

Everyone's attention was called to the table as utensils scraped against plates and the feasting began. In a matter of minutes the three had a stack of five plates each in front of them; Hichigo showing no manners and just stuffing his face, Yoruichi having some grace and dignity kept from putting the plate to her face until she saw Tsukune, who had been eating in a similar manner, reach for a seventh plate while setting his sixth one down. Those that were only mildly interested in the contest that Yoruichi had started grabbed a couple plates of food before it had a chance to disappear.

As Tsukune finished his seventh plate, he felt his bankai regress and finally go back to its fully sealed state. The 'skirt' was back to being tattered pants and the blade was once again a katana. He quickly caught the katana before it fell to the ground and put it back in its sheath; which cost him the lead and put Yoruichi in front by half a plate.

Ichigo's eyes looked at a certain dish; it brought back memories for him. The dish was something that his mother would make on birthdays and certain holidays. A smile steadily grew on his face as he remembered she would often change the recipe for each person and holiday so it was always unique. The last time he had the dish was his sisters' birthday before she died. The next thing he knew, he was reaching for the plate and had it in his hand.

"Is everything ok Ichigo?" Orihime asked.

"Yea, it's just been a while since I had this;" with his soft smile still in place "mom used to make it."

"This dish?" Kurumu asked him in a confused tone.

"Yea;" as he used a fork to take a bite.

"I thought you said you're half human?"

"I am" as he swallowed his food "Yuzu tried to find the recipe online but couldn't."

"That's a succubus dish;" she pointed out "it's kept in the family. Human's shouldn't know about it."

Ichigo noticed his dad steadily trying to creep away from the scene and handed Orihime his plate before going after his old man. Isshin attempted to escape by using shunpo but was clotheslined by Ichigo who quickly put him in a choke hold.

"Just how much have you been keeping from us old fart?" as he kept his dad from escaping.

"I give! I give!" Isshin cried as he tapped out "I'll talk;" causing Ichigo to let go "your mother was adopted by a succubus family when she was only four. When they discovered her Quincy powers they carefully looked for someone to train her."

"Mom was a Quincy?" his eyes wide with shock.

"A damn good one;" with a chuckle "she had lost her powers after she told me she had 'found a way to purify hollows instead of killing them'. I never found out what she meant by that. She only ever told me she had 'discovered the truth' and someone had stolen her powers not long after that."

"Who trained her?"

"The Ishida family;" as he rubbed his shoulder "they knew about her situation and that she was being raised by succubae. Since she was a full blooded Quincy they agreed to train her. If she had been a succubus looking at training to become a Quincy they most likely would've killed the family because it's seen as an insult."

"Oh," Ichigo said in a sigh "Uryu is gonna love this one."

"Him and his dad had a bit of a heated argument when we went to pick up your dad;" Tatsuki said "his father said it wasn't important before, which caused Uryu to do what he usually does when things are kept from him that are actually important."

"Which is why Ryuken left after most of the hollows were gone" Isshin said "who wants to guess my actual age?"

Those words no more left his mouth and he was hit in the face with a large bowl. The hit knocked him out and everyone looked towards where it came from and saw Yoruichi reaching for a new bowl. She knew every time he asked someone that question he always took a jab at her own age; she was only a hundred years older than him but when he talked about it he made it sound like she was older than Retsu. More often than not she'd put him on the ground because of that, but he never seemed to learn his lesson.

The table in front of her quickly became a pile of dirty plates, bowls, and cups as the three continued eating. Everyone just stared in disbelief; they had just eaten enough food for the campus to have a meal and were still going. Even Toshiro's jaw was practically on the ground at how much they were eating. Aono alone had eaten enough food to cause a normal person's stomach to just about explode but he was still going strong; he was eating more than Soifon's former fuku-taichou would.

Hichigo looked at the food in front of him as his vision slowly became blurry. He had devoured twenty three plates of food and it was catching up to him. Even as he fought off passing out, he tried to force himself to eat more; as he picked up the plate he fell backwards to the ground unconscious. Ichigo just shook his head as a snore was heard from his hollow self; at least he didn't throw up.

Rangiku smirked as she decided to make the friendly competition more interesting and started pouring sake for Tsukune and Yoruichi. Everyone laughed a bit when Tsukune took a drink without thinking and coughed from the slight burn. Some of the surrounding students had a hard time believing someone like Tsukune, a pacifist that tried to avoid fighting when he was alive and usually did things that made people do a double take, was able to take on the Arrancar that nearly killed Jagerjaquez and walk away.

"If you turn my brother into an alcoholic I'll kick your ass;" Tatsuki threatened.

Tatsuki knew how much, and often, the busty fuku-taichou drank and didn't want Tsukune to be like that. She remembered that every time he'd come and visit her that the guys in the dojo she trained in would pick on Tsukune; which resulted in her stepping in to protect him. He used to be too much of a pacifist to ever try martial arts and often had to protect him when they visited one another.

"He won't let himself become an alcoholic;" Soifon said "I don't think he's capable of falling that low."

"Soifon-taichou; right?" Tatsuki asked as she looked at the taichou.

"Yes, I'm in charge of the Second Division" the petite taichou answered "every member of the Second is of journeymen level in Hakuda."

"Hakuda? Never heard of the style; is it like Chinese Kungfu? Just an umbrella term that covers every style because they tend to blend together?"

"Yes;" with a smile "your brother has been taking training in it seriously and I'm not afraid to admit that he learned faster than anyone in my Division. I'm sure he could beat Kurosaki in a fight without weapons."

"Doesn't take much;" with a smile and somewhat low tone "I'd make him cry every time we spared as kids."

"You and I are going to get along just fine" the petite taichou said with a smirk.

Tsukune looked at the stack of plates and bowls in front of him and decided it would be a good idea to stop before what he ate caught up to him. He clasped his hands signaling to Urahara that he was done and got up from the table.

"I'm going to go see if Ruby's alright;" he said to his friends "Tatsuki, want to come with?"

"Yea, it'll give us time to catch up; you have some explaining to do" as she pointed at his scared torso.

Tsukune gulped in slight fear; his half sister had always been a little over protective and he had a good feeling about how she was going to react when he told her how it happened. Odds were that she was going to go head hunting even though he had taken care of the problem a while ago. As the siblings walked, he told her about Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari, and Ruby and how they had met. He could see a vain throb in her forehead at the fact that he met Moka by being ran over by her and her using him as a snack, Kurumu pretty much brain washed him for a short time, Yukari attacked him, Mizore nearly froze him, and Ruby had tried to kill him twice.

His sister's jaw gradually dropped as he told her the list of events that happened throughout the previous year. Everything that their father had told her made it seem like Tsukune was just at another school but now that she knew the truth, she was surprised he was still in one piece. Yokai Academy had noticeably changed him in a way she originally didn't think was possible and it worried her a little bit. Tsukune was still a pacifist but was more willing to fight if he had to or felt it was needed; he had shown a lot of grief when he told her about the Doppelganger he accidently killed and she was thankful he was trying to hold back. Before they knew it, they were at the infirmary.

"At least I'm conscious walking in here this time;" Tsukune joked with a small chuckle "excuse me" getting a nurse's attention "where's Toujo Ruby at?"

"She's on the fourth floor; I believe she might be checking on the patient in room four fifty six at the moment."

"Thanks."

-Ruby-

The witch looked at the charts of the patient on the bed and took note of everything; depth of the injury, where the person was at the time of injury, she even made personal notes on how the reiatsu in the wound felt. She didn't want to leave anything out because if she did and the hollow that attacked this student was still out there, this information would make it easier to find. Her eyes steadily read over the chart as she wrote everything down on the clipboard.

While she seemed calm on the outside, on the inside she was ready to beat the living hell out of someone. The Quincy may have saved her life, but how he did it infuriated her to no end. As a witch she was naturally in touch with nature and spirits, occasionally coming across a lost soul while she was at the Witch's Knoll and once a hollow that her former mistress purified, and believed in purifying hollows. Quincies had turned their backs on the old ways and fought with condensed spirit particles that held absolutely no chance of purifying a hollow.

"Hey Ruby;" she heard a familiar voice call out from the door.

"Tsukune!" she said with joy but her face showed confusion when she saw a girl standing with him "and…"

"Ruby this is my half sister Tatsuki Arisawa" making introductions "Tatsuki, this is Ruby."

"She's the one that sliced your back open and tried to destroy a city? I don't see it" Tatsuki said as she looked the witch over.

Tsukune started to panic when he saw Ruby's expression to the comment, but calmed down when Ruby replied.

"That was a dark time for me;" she said "one that sometimes haunts my dreams, but Tsukune saved me from that path. Since then I got a job here at Yokai Academy as the Head Master's assistant and I'm trying to make up for it. Even if it is only a small bit at a time."

"What did you mean when you called Ishida a traitorous Quincy before you bitch slapped him?" Tatsuki asked.

Ruby's jaw clenched noticeably at the question and she let out an exaggerated exhale.

"The first Quincy was a warlock, Alvious Quincy;" she explained "he had mastered manipulating the pure energy of nature into the shape of a bow and forming an arrow that could be launched a great distance. When he was alive he trained a select number of witches and warlocks to do the same thing. Their numbers grew and everything was fine for a time; Quincy used to work alongside shinigami to protect the living and pluses. On Alvious' death bed he confessed something; it was a confession that changed everything. He told those that had learned his skill that creating bow and arrows from spiritual particles was not only easier, but more effective; however it came at a cost, using spirit particles destroyed the soul as a whole without purifying it.

After the funeral, a short time passed before the Quincy became divided. Many wished to stay true to the teachings of Alvious, which also followed the witch and warlock view on nature and balance. Souls needed to pass on and be reborn into a new life or be dragged to hell to face punishment for their sins. Slaying hollows with the pure energy of nature they are purified and pass over to the Soul Society. Others believed that Alvious confessed this because he wanted hollows to be destroyed out right; this led to a civil war.

When the war was finally sparked, those that wished to stay true to Alvious' original teachings barely stood a chance. The ones that moved to using spirit particles were able to decimate those that used the pure energy of nature. Eventually the teachings were obscured and Quincy deviated from their magical roots."

"So you decided to smack the shit out of him instead of explaining that?"

Ruby shrunk a bit in embarrassment; she knew she should've explained the truth to the Quincy but was caught up in anger.

"Moka-chan and Gin-san weren't friends when they first met" Tsukune jumped in "vampires and werewolves have a natural rivalry that's hard for most to over look. It might be the same for witches and Quincy; since the first Quincy were witches but eventually turned their back to the old ways there could be that deep seeded despise for Quincy."

"I guess;" Tatsuki sighed "when did you start thinking like that?"

She remembered that his grades were always barely up to par and had little comprehensive thinking skills. That was also back when he always needed to be protected from bullies; now he was standing on his own and she was having problems adjusting. The scared little boy she remembered her brother as was pretty much gone and replaced by someone more like Ichigo. He had a drive to get stronger to protect his friends, had a certain draw to him that seemed to make others better, and naturally saw that good in others.

-A couple hours later-

Tsukune's hair had finally been cleaned and cut back to its normal style, and his body cleansed of the blood. He had returned the last of his library books with the help of his sister and his friends; even Moka and Yukari were surprised at the books he had checked out. A number of books on various Yokai, a martial arts book, a couple spell books, and a history book with post-it notes tagging pages. Yukari had flipped through the spell books and asked how he understood any of it; his answer had sealed Ruby's fate. Every one of the girls had been clueless that he was back, except Ruby who had known since the first week. He pitied the older witch for the pain she was bound to be in.

He knew he was going to have to tell them that he was leaving again; he hated that thought because he had promised Mizore that he would answer her questions after the last time. It was only a matter of hours before the three taichou officially arrested him to take him back to the Seireitei and there was nothing his friends could do.

"Aono Tsukune;" he heard Kuchiki-taichou say as the sound of blades being drawn hit his ears "you are placed under arrest by order of Central Forty Six and Yamamoto-sou-taichou. Do not resist."

Everyone but Tsukune turned around to see Byakuya, Toshiro, and Zaraki with their blades drawn. Matsumoto, Soifon, Ichigo, and Grimmjow were standing to the side with grim looks on their faces. Byakuya had told Ichigo why the three of them were there and understood that he couldn't do anything to sway what was ordered; the only thing he could do was keep things from getting out of hand with Tsukune's friends and Tatsuki.

"LIKE HELL HE'S UNDER ARREST!" Moka shouted.

"He did something you shinigami wouldn't do;" Kurumu said "he saved Mizore and me when we were kidnapped by that Arrancar. He did your jobs."

"I was ordered not to;" Tsukune said as he placed his hands on his friends' shoulders "I dropped out of the Shinigami Academy to save you. The sou-taichou said if I went through with it I would be labeled as a rogue shinigami and hunted down like one. Please don't make this harder."

Moka swatted his hand off her shoulder and spun around to face him.

"I don't care what you did;" she snapped "I WILL NOT LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

Tsukune knew that she wasn't going to let this go; he knew what he was going to have to do to keep her from getting hurt.

"Bakudo number one: Sai" as he placed his index and middle finger in the middle of her chest and shot his arm out to the side.

Moka's arms were wrenched behind her back as she fell to the ground. She growled in anger as she saw him entrap Kurumu in a strange red aura that kept her from moving. Before Mizore could even think to move, she was trapped by a crackling yellow rope made of reiatsu. Yukari yelped in surprise as Tsukune jerked her wand from her hand and threw it to Grimmjow. In no time he had immobilized his friends so he could protect them from getting slaughtered by three taichou shinigami. Tsukune turned to Tatsuki and could see that she wanted to try to stop him.

"I have to answer for going rogue Tatsuki;" he said in a sad tone "please don't fight me."

The human teen grit her teeth; she wanted to protect him, but this was something that was out of her league. Orihime had told her about what Ichigo went through to be strong enough to just invade the Soul Society a year ago. Now they were stronger than then and she had no real abilities outside of martial arts.

"How long will you be?" seeing no way around it.

"About a week and a half at best;" as he looked away "the worst could be twenty years in the Maggot's Nest."

"You have two weeks; if I don't hear from you by then, I'm coming to the Soul Society and I'll rip you a new one for being a baka" her brother gave her a nod before she pulled him into a hug "I'm glad you're safe. And don't think I didn't see the looks you gave Soifon-taichou" in a whisper with a grin.

Tsukune fought back the blush that tried to reveal itself; he knew that his sister was only trying to lighten the mood. He let go of his sister and looked to the three taichou that were there to arrest him. He removed the zanpakuto from his waist and held it out towards the Sixth Division taichou.

"I surrender peacefully."

The three taichou sheathed their weapons and Byakuya took Tsukune's zanpakuto in a gentle manner. Zaraki had a look on his face that showed he was hoping for a fight; Toshiro looked relieved that it was a simple arrest. The youngest taichou opened a Senkaimon and they stepped in; Tsukune couldn't muster the strength to look back to his friends. Even if it would've been to give them a reassuring smile, he didn't want to see the fear in their faces for what could happen to him.

Soifon felt guilt as she watched the gate close; she had gone to the yuki-ona village to retrieve him. While she wanted to go back to the Seireitei to at least make sure he was put in the proper cell until his trial. She knew that her fat former fuku-taichou was going to be on the other side of the gate and will be the one escorting Tsukune to prison. That was something that was going to play over well; she had faith in Tsukune's ability to handle himself regardless of where he was going to be put.

In her mind she knew that some space between them was going to be needed to figure out where they stood with one another. Were they going to try dating, or just let it fade? Her heart ached at the thought of not being any more than mentor and student with him. He was one of the only ones that saw her for her, not to mention one of the only ones she'd let see her real self. It was complicated and the time apart was going to help her sort things out.

Moka, Kurumu and Mizore were finally released from the Kido spells that bound them. Mizore had a defeated, but understanding look on her face as she slummed away to her dorm room, and Kurumu had tears running down her face in confusion about why Tsukune would abandon them like that. Moka though, Moka was fuming in anger; her eyes glared at the ones that had been with Tsukune for the past month.

"You just let him leave?" she practically shouted at the shinigami group "after everything he's done with you, you just let him leave like that?"

"You think it was easy?" Soifon immediately retorted "I found him in one of the roughest districts in the Rukongai fighting off three hollows with his bare hands. Kenpachi and myself recommended him to the Shinigami Academy; I personally have seen him go from nothing more than a bar room brawler to someone worthy of the shinigami uniform in record time. We each trained him for nearly a month, so before you go spouting your nonsense believing we simply handed him over remember this; he chose to surrender himself to keep you and your friends out of harm's way. So I suggest you watch your tone when speaking to us vampire."

With that, Soifon vanished from the area for privacy to vent; the nerve of her. She ended up on the roof of the male dorms and took a deep breath of the open air. A part of her wanted to be held, but the person she wanted to be held by at the moment was heading back to the Seireitei. Her eyes looked out over the campus and she could see the damage that had been done as a result of the attack. Buildings were wrecked so badly they looked to be a lost cause, large portions of forest were scarred from different attacks, and a few areas were still smoldering; yet the Head Master just wrote it off like it was nothing simply because none of the students were killed? She knew that Tsukune most likely felt the same way, but the amount of damage done to the land plus the insane amount of reiatsu that still lingered in the air. How could he have just written it off?

She looked down to the fountain that stood in the middle of the courtyard. There were a couple times when she would have Tsukune try to keep up with her while in a Gigai and he would lose his footing and end up in the pool of water. He'd just laugh it off as he got out and took off to catch up to her. A smile grew on her lips as she remembered the look of determination that was always on his face when he'd train; he took training seriously, but would always be smiling and joking afterwards no matter how beat up or worn out he was.

The lamps around the fountain exploded at the same moment she heard the light fixture behind her explode.

"What now?" she asked as a scowl returned to her face.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Tsukune had to squint his eyes as he stepped into the Seireitei; the sudden change in light caught him off guard. When his eyes fully adjusted, he could see Soifon's former fuku-taichou with a squad of six members from the Second Division. The fat noble had a smug grin on his face as he showed the cuffs he was about to put on Tsukune's wrists.

"Not so tough now are ya dirt bag?" Omaeda asked "time to take ya to your prison cell."

The former fuku-taichou put the wooden block cuffs on Tsukune's wrists and started to drag him off; this had been the moment he waited for. Pay back for embarrassing him in front of the entire Second Division, and the best part; his taichou wasn't around to save the brat.

"The Fourth Division is the opposite direction former Fuku-taichou Marechiyo;" Byakuya said causing the fat man to stop in his tracks "you do remember procedure for taking someone into custody within the walls of the Seireitei don't you?"

"Yes sir;" with a weak chuckle "they're to be taken to the Fourth Division where they are to be examined for potential bacteria or viruses in their system that can be spread. As soon as Unohana-Taichou clears it, they're taken to the standard prison cell outside of the Thirteenth Division unless the Sou-Taichou orders otherwise. While there, guard will rotate through various divisions and…"

"Unless ya were planning on handling Aono in a different manner since he did make ya lose yer rank;" Kenpachi said in a bored tone.

"I would never do such a thing Zaraki-taichou" Omaeda insisted.

"Smart man;" with a dark chuckle "since he fought the woman that was Tres Espada with his bankai and walked away without a scratch. That was after fighting a five tailed fox thing, and a small army of Hollow on his own."

The fat former fuku-taichou immediately took three _large_ steps away from the prisoner.

"I got lucky," Tsukune admitted as he scratched his chin "if it weren't for the healing ability bankai gives me I would've been killed early on. Besides, she wasn't really trying to kill me for some reason."

"That's her damn fault then;" as he walked away "see ya around Aono, try not to cause too much trouble in the Maggot's Nest if ya end up there. Ya still owe me and Ikkaku a fight."

"I will be escorting Aono to the Fourth Division as well;" Byakuya said "while those shackles are designed to prevent the use of shinigami powers, Aono can still use his Arrancar abilities and is still a threat. By your lead."

"Yes sir;" Omaeda said in fear as he started sweating bullets while they headed towards the Fourth Division.


	40. Chapter 40

Tsukune sat in the room with the heavy set former fuku-taichou while they waited for Unohana-taichou to show up. Isane had said that the motherly taichou was seeing to another patient at the moment and would be a little while. The silence was bothering him and he was still on a bit of an adrenaline high since fighting the hollow at Yokai Academy but was slowly coming down from it.

"I didn't mean for you to lose your rank;" Tsukune said breaking the silence.

Omaeda looked over to Aono with a raised eyebrow. The large former fuku-taichou never had a chance to talk with the boy before and was surprised this was the first thing he was saying to him.

"It doesn't matter; it happened and nothing's going to put things back to how they were" Omaeda said with a snort.

"I'll talk to Soifon-taichou when…" he paused remembering his position "if I get to see her again and explain what happened to her. You were right to try to turn me away; I wasn't even a student at the Shinigami Academy and I was claiming to have been invited to be trained by a taichou. I backed you into a corner in a way. For that, I'm sorry."

The heavy set former fuku-taichou looked at the brown haired teen slightly confused. The boy had no real reason to consider talking to Soifon about getting his position back; this left him wondering why. He had nothing to gain from it.

"Listen" he started.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SEE HIM?!" a female voice shouted from just outside the door.

"I know that voice;" Tsukune said as he got up and opened the door.

"He is currently a prisoner and until he is put in a prison cell," the noble taichou answered calmly "he is not to see anyone other than those that are required by procedure. Once he is taken to his cell you may fill out a request form to have visitation time."

Tsukune could swear he heard teeth grinding together; there was however, an indisputable spike in reiatsu. Small, but there; and he recognized it.

"Akua-chan?" he asked as he peeked around Kuchiki-taichou.

"Tsukune-san, so you are here;" the vampire said with a smile "what mess did you get into this time?"

Before Tsukune could reply the cool-motherly voice of the Fourth Division taichou touched his ears.

"Shuzen-san, I thought I said you needed plenty of bed rest before you could be up and about again."

Akua's eyes widened a bit before she gave a small gulp; she found out firsthand just how creepy the taichou had the potential to be. It reminded her of Akasha all too well. A gentle smile, soft eyes, and warm feeling she seemed to radiate from her very being; it was hiding something terrifying beneath. Something that made her feel like she _never_ wanted to meet this person on the battle field for even a second.

"Yes ma'am" in slight fear as she turned on her heel and power walked back to her room.

"Aono-san, I believe we have an appointment" Retsu said with her usual smile.

-Yokai Academy-

A groan escaped a masked person as he rolled over and looked at his ally who was still unconscious. His eyes widened when he realized what happened and quickly began to shake his ally to wake her up.

"Damn it; wake up" he said loudly "we don't have time…"

He was cut off by a fist to his face from her.

"I'm trying to sleep damn it;" as she rolled over then suddenly sat straight up "you let him get away?!"

The man could see the rage in his ally's eyes as he rubbed his cheek. He knew what was about to happen, she had that look in her eyes that often came with the rage he was seeing.

"You let him knock you out and now we're who-knows-where;" as she got in his face "then you have the nerve to act like I'm the one that messed up?!"

"I never said you messed up" in bored tone "we need to move now though before…" a number of swishes and two static-like booms happened all around them "anddddd we're fucked."

The two looked around and saw Soifon, Ichigo, his Hollow, Renji, Grimmjow, Yachiru, and Matsumoto surrounding them; everyone but Yachiru had their weapon drawn. The masked woman growled in annoyance as she slowly reached for the zanpakuto at the small of her back.

"Identify yourselves now" Soifon ordered.

"Or don't and we'll kick the shit out of ya" Grimmjow said with a grin.

"This doesn't concern you so mind your own business" the girl said.

"You're wearing the uniform of the Onmitsukido" Soifon said from behind the girl "so you answer to me. Now identify yourselves."

"The name's Sora;" the guy quickly answered as he grabbed his friend's hand to keep her from doing anything "this is Talia."

He pulled the face mask off and showed his self. He stood at five feet eleven inches, had black hair that looked long enough to put into a small pony tail, brown eyes, and facial features, that while looking to have baby fat still holding on to it, still seemed to be sharp; Soifon guessed him to be about eighteen at most. He wasn't built very broad but the group knew that didn't mean anything in their line of work. On his belt was what looked to be a Substitute Shinigami Badge.

After getting a nudge from Sora, Talia took off her face mask. She stood at five feet three inches, had brown hair cut at the shoulders, brown eyes, and looked like she was still going through a growth spurt because of her facial features. Soifon guessed maybe sixteen. There was something oddly familiar about how the girl looked; almost like she'd seen her before.

"There's no one by either of your names in the Onmitsukido" Soifon said.

"And that would mean something if we were from this time;" Talia retorted "we're from the future."

Everyone just jaw dropped when they heard this.

"Very subtle;" Sora said with a sigh "we were trying to stop an Arrancar from coming back to this time and messing with the time stream, but it didn't work out like we had hoped. The reason it's us here instead of your future selves is the Paradox Theory; an individual can't cross their own time line without serious consequences. Is that a Cadillac?" as he looked over Grimmjow's shoulder.

Sure enough, the group looked over and saw a white Cadillac with heavily tented windows in the distance heading towards the mansion. Grimmjow looked back and expected the two time travelers to be long gone, but was surprised to see they were still there.

"How exactly does this guy expect to fuck with the time stream?" the panther Arrancar asked as he sheathed his zanpakuto.

"We think it's by killing Aono Tsukune;" Sora answered.

Everyone's eyes went wide when they heard that sentence finish.

"Why would anyone want Tsuki dead;" Yachiru asked "he's nice."

"I have to agree with Yachiru;" Rangiku said "sure Tsukune's ruffled some feathers, but really? Someone would seriously go back in time just to kill him?"

"**Don't matter ta some;"** Hichigo said **"some will do whatever they want ta kill someone."**

Talia's jaw clenched tightly as she looked to the academy.

"We don't have time for you to get over the shock that someone would want him dead. Where is he so we can protect him?"

"As safe as he could possibly be;" Ichigo said "he's in the Seireitei right now."

Talia hid her disappointment.

"That's one problem down;" Soifon said "what's this person's description?"

"Not sure;" Sora said with a sigh.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF ONMITSUKIDO ARE YOU?" Soifon snapped "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS PERSON LOOKS LIKE?!"

"INSTEAD OF JUST GOING OFF LIKE A BOMB HOW ABOUT YOU GET ALL YOUR INTEL FIRST!" Talia shouted back "his Resurreccion lets him change his physical appearance. He's in constant release; that's why _no one_ knows what he really looks like."

"That hooded creep might know how to track down this guy," Grimmjow said "he seems to know a bit of everything rather it's his business or not."

"I'll catch up;" Sora said "I can't sonido or shunpo."

"**Whatever;"** Hichigo said as he vanished with sonido.

Ichigo held his hand out offering to give Sora a lift; he accepted the offer and they were at the mansion in no time. As Sora got off Ichigo, he recalled the stark differences between Ichigo and his Hollow. He had seen Hichigo a number of times and could give a detailed list of everything Hichigo and Ichigo could butt heads about. As they walked through the courtyard, Sora saw the white Cadillac parked to the side of the building. His eyes managed to catch the license plate; it read "buh-bye".

"It couldn't be…" he muttered to himself.

He had seen the car before many years ago, once when he was barely three; it was a scarce memory but he had a picture of the car from a camera his uncle had gotten him. His dad had asked him and his sister to stay out of the room he was meeting the owner of in, but the car was forever in his mind. His mind continued to try to remember details of the last time he saw that car, but was snapped out of the train of thought when they met up with another group of people. He recognized each one of them by actually meeting them as he grew up; a small groan was kept silent as he noticed Akashiya Moka. Talia didn't exactly get along with the Shinso vampire.

"I didn't think the Head Master called for you" Ruby said in a surprised tone.

"**Other way around;"** Hichigo sighed **"we need his help."**

"And we don't need the help of a _vampire_;" Talia spat "so she can go suck on a blood pack elsewhere."

A vein pulsed visibly on Moka's forehead at the insult just thrown at her. A person whom hadn't even met her yet had the nerve to insult her; _her_. A powerful S-rank vampire that was of two noble, pure blooded houses. Heads were about to roll.

"Sorry about her;" Sora said quickly as he grabbed Talia's hand "a word" and took off around another corner.

He practically shoved his friend against the wall in near anger.

"You need to get over your anger towards her and focus on what we're here to do" in a firm tone.

"You know what she's gonna do" Talia spat.

"It hasn't happened yet and don't even think about trying to change history. He was a causality of the war, end of story."

While Talia was born after the war, he had been about two when it ended. Talia's father had been killed in the final battle and never even knew her mother was pregnant. His friend was never sheltered from the truth of how he died, which was the reason Talia hated the Shinso; always saying 'it's her fault'.

"Do you really think it's that simple?! You grew up knowing your parents, having a simple, apple pie life. I never got that chance; you have no idea what I would trade to have what you do."

She usually hid her envy of kids that had both their parents in their lives; not to him though. While his family had an unusual thing going for them, it was a good family and he couldn't be happier.

"Do you want to go back to our time and not even recognize it at best? What do you think would happen if we do something that causes us to never have been born? I really don't want to think about it; never mind find out what it'd be like. Now stow your crap, and play nice."

-Meanwhile-

Soifon kept her ears toned in on the conversation that was happening just around the corner. She was curious about what they meant by what they were saying to each other. The fact that there was going to be another war troubled her; they had just got done with one that nearly destroyed a city of over ten thousand people and could've cost the shinigami king his life had Aizen made the key.

"So who do you think they really are?" Ichigo asked.

"Not Onmitsukido, that's for sure;" Soifon answered "there's no way I would allow such disrespect from a subordinate."

"Do you think they stole the uniforms Soifon-taichou?" Renji asked.

"Seems like it. I understand why someone would want one;" she explained "the uniform is made of a special cloth that hides the wearer's reiatsu. And with what we specialize in, that is an asset that can't be replaced."

"And what does the Onmitsukido specialize in?" Mizore asked.

"Assassinations" the taichou answered bluntly.

"So you've been training Tsukune to be a killer?" Moka asked with venom in her words.

"If he was being trained to be nothing more than a tool do you think I would've brought him back to Yokai Academy after he dropped out of the Shinigami Academy? While we may be giving him skills that would allow him to kill, it is how he chooses to use them that keeps him from being a mere tool. The only time he has killed is that Doppelganger, and that was an accident. With how you fight it wouldn't surprise me if you've killed just for kicks."

"Ok you two;" Ichigo said as he stepped between them "back in your corners. We have other things to worry about right now and you two being at each others' throats won't help."

The silver haired vampire turned her head away from the group with a small 'hmpf' as Soifon walked towards the Head Master's office and knocked on the door.

"He's in a meeting;" Ruby said as she tried to stop Soifon "I'm not sure with whom, but he showed up after the people from Karakura Town left. Almost all" she corrected herself "Inoue-san went to find the Quincy in the library so he can be here for our meeting."

Ichigo wasn't surprised that Ishida was still here; odds were he wanted his medallion thing back and wanted to know why he was slapped. He had a gut feeling that it involved what his mom had found out before she lost her Quincy powers.

"**Please come in"** they heard as the door opened.

When the door was completely opened, they saw a massive table that had a number of pizzas, hotdogs, burgers, and other food that were popular in America. There were some two liters of various sodas, a couple bottles of sake, some Starbucks coffee, and a gallon of milk. At the head of the table sat a man that was very thin, his cheek bones perfectly visible beneath his somewhat large eyes, his brown hair seemed to be in the process of receding from his forehead, he wore a black business suit with a grey tie, and had silver ring that had a white stone set in it. The group walked in and several noticed that the thin man had no reiatsu coming from him; it seemed that he was just a regular person. Perhaps a human that knew about the existence of Yokai and was working with the Head Master on the human side of thing.

"It's rude to gawk;" the man said as he took a drink from his cup "please, sit. Try the pizza; it's delicious."

Ichigo felt someone grab his sleeve and looked to see Orihime was now with them and had a fearful look on her face. He wasn't sure what was making her seem so afraid, the man in the office was just a man. Orihime could feel it though, or rather, feel the absence of what she was supposed to be feeling. To her higher senses, it was as if the person didn't even exist; there was nothing there. Physically there was, but, as far as reiatsu goes, he was a ghost; so to speak.

"No need to be so afraid, Inoue Orihime;" the man said as he took a bite of pizza "I'm not here for anyone."

"How the hell do you know her name?" Ichigo demanded as the man wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"**Answer us ya scrawny prick!"** Hichigo said as he reached for his photonegative of Zangetsu.

"There is little I don't know; Kurosaki Ichigo. Or would you prefer Shiba Ichigo?"

"Kurosaki;" he answered.

"Of course, even if I did know less than I actually do;" as he set his cup down "there are many that know of the human girl who possesses the power to reverse my work."

"**And what exactly is yer work?"** Hichigo demanded.

Those words no more left Hichigo's mouth and he was caught in a Rikujokoro. The photonegative of Ichigo went to shout but found he couldn't open his mouth.

"I want you to take a second and consider that compared to me in your current state, you are barely a crustacean. While you might have been able to feel my reiatsu for that brief thirty minutes when you fought Aizen, you still weren't even a real threat. Now add in the fact that you are already on my last nerve;" as he walked over to Hichigo "there is little that could keep me from killing you and scattering your spirit particles across the universe. Now I suggest you be quiet" as he placed his index finger on Hichigo's forehead and there was a blinding light.

When everyone could see again, Hichigo was gone.

'_**WHAT THE FUCK DID THAT PRICK JUST DO?!'**_ Ichigo heard in his head.

"You put him back in me?" in shock "who are you?"

The mysterious man just went back to his set, picked up a hotdog, and graciously took a bite out of it. Mystery about this man was quickly growing; he seemed to know everyone. He had the power to put Ichigo's Hollow back within him. Then there was the fact that this man had no noticeable reiatsu coming from him.

"'_And through the fire stood before me a Pale Horse, and he who sat atop him carried a Scythe'_;" they heard behind them from Sora "he has many names; the 'Grim Reaper', 'Pale Horsemen', 'Big Daddy Reaper'. Regardless of what you call him, he's the Shinigami King; he _is_ Death."

-Elsewhere at Yokai Academy-

Third year Inui Junya sat on a bench by himself drinking tomato juice and gave the occasional passing girl a charming smile that could rival even Gin's. It was hardly a secret that he got around in the female student body, but that didn't stop any of them; not with what everyone believed about him. His smile broke when someone sat down next to him; he had short hair that was somewhat slicked back, soft green eyes, but a powerful jaw line and cheek bones, and his left arm was bandaged up.

"Tomato juice seems to be a good substitute for real blood for vampires;" the student said as he offered to shake hands "I'm John."

"Inui Junya;" as he shook the boy's hand "and yes, it has many qualities that we need. It's surprisingly nutrient dense which is always a plus. I ran out of transfusion packs recently and I'm waiting on my parents to send me some."

"You seem to be quite the charmer;" as he waved to a group of girls "I'm surprised they aren't volunteering to donate to you."

"It's complicated."

"Believe me, I understand complicated;" as he gently rubbed his arm "got caught between some debris and one of those masked things tried to eat me. I'm not much of a fighter; I prefer reading about grad battles than ending up in one. Nerd at heart" he laughed.

"I wish I could've fought some of the masked creatures;" Junya said as he took another drink "they seem to be capable of a lot of things. It'd be a great way to prove my strength."

"They are capable of a lot;" with a grin "makes you wonder what their blood can do for a vampire such as yourself. Doesn't it?"

"Are you suggesting I betray my own species?" catching on quickly.

"That would imply that you are actually a vampire;" as he pulled out a bottle of water from his bag and took a drink "like I said, 'nerd at heart'. So you can either help me, or I expose you."

Inui grit his teeth together as he knew what kind of a corner he was in; this wasn't something that he could just write off or lie his way out of. The bottle John was drinking from was pure water. With how many people were around, his cover would be blown.

"What do you have in mind?" in a low tone.

-Head Master's Office-

Soifon, Renji, Rangiku, and even Ruby quickly dropped to their knees and put their foreheads on the floorboards.

"Quit your groveling;" he ordered and the four stood up quickly "I'm not here on business. I'm here for a personal reason. Kurosaki, I wanted to thank you for dealing with Aizen. While I was in no real danger of him, I'm glad you kept him from my mansion while it was empty."

"I didn't do it for you;" Ichigo said firmly "I did it to protect my family."

"Either way," as he put another slice of pizza on his plate "it's one less headache I have to deal with. Please, sit and eat; all of you. The pizza is from a small diner in New York, the hotdogs a concession in Nevada, the burgers from a fast-food chain that's popular in America, and I even picked up some beer from Germany; the saki is from my personal stash. And don't worry; I made sure everything is safe for a vampire to consume."

"Is this just to thank me?" Ichigo asked.

"While I am thankful you kept Aizen from my home," as he took a bite of pizza "no. I'm here so shed a little light on your current situation since Yamamoto is too foolish to think that Aizen didn't meddle in the affairs of the living; Aizen helped create the organization known as 'Fairy Tale'. So that means the bastard has some sort of backup plan; and everything that happened here last year and what you went through are connected. Figure out how and you will most likely have Aizen's full plan in front of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Why is it everyone I deal with seems so dense?" Death said with a sigh "Does the name Alucard mean anything to you?"

"The first vampire?" Moka asked "what does he have to do with any of this?"

"For starters, Fairy Tale wishes to revive him;" as he took a drink of soda "foolish of course. His soul is in two pieces at the moment. What they have possession of is just a mindless body. And even if his soul were in one piece; I personally reaped him recently. His number finally came up. Impressive really" as he looked at his ring "if your mother hadn't stopped him when she did, he might have been beyond even my power to stop. I would've gotten him eventually, but until then he would've been a horrible headache.

Second," as he looked to Ichigo "I would like you to try to imagine Aizen with the power of the first vampire behind him. The original vampire who had healing abilities that went beyond what Akasha Bloodriver was capable of; not even Yamamoto's bankai could bring him down for long. On that day human, Yokai, shinigami, hollow, and gods actually stood together for something; to prevent total and complete inhalation by the hands of a single being."

"If Fairy Tale would've revived Alucard before the Winter War;" Renji said in fear "then Yokai would've been revealed to the world once again and hunted down indiscriminately."

"Dying like that would cause countless more hollows to have been born" Soifon added "and there's no telling how strong those hollow could be."

"Then there's retaliation from Yokai to think about" Rangiku said "the toll on both sides would be too much for shinigami to handle. The forces would be spread thin, opening the Soul Society for ill protected. I guess Aizen really did screw up his own plans by kidnapping Orihime."

Ichigo clenched his jaw; he didn't want to think that Orihime getting kidnapped was a good thing, but from how things were sounding at the moment that's what it was looking like.

"**Today has caused unrest on many things;"** the Head Master said **"I'll look into tracking down our other friend from the future, but until then I ask that you, Talia and Sora, try not to cause trouble."**

"How did…" Sora asked as his eyes went wide.

"**There is little that happens on my campus without me knowing."**

-Infirmary-

Hanataro groaned as he felt a weight on his chest and something wrapped around his midsection. He cracked his eyes open and saw red hair practically right in his face. The last thing he remembered was putting a new IV into his vein before passing out again; he was curious about when the red headed vampire decided to use him as a pillow. A part of him didn't mind though.

Kokoa rubbed her head against his chest as she gently tightened her hold on him. The soft thumbing sound of a heart echoed in her ear and seemed to keep her at a point between slumber and conscious. It was oddly refreshing for her being at this strange point; normally she hated it and wanted to be completely asleep or awake. This was a peaceful state that she wanted to stay in for as long as possible.

"S-Shuzen-san?" Hanataro carefully asked "why are…"

"I'm comfy" she growled at him "now shhh. I'm trying to sleep still."

"Ok" he whispered as he put his free hand on her back to keep her stable.

The small vampire felt her face heat up by the simple contact that had been made. She wondered why such an innocent touch would make her feel so… safe? Was that what she was feeling? It wasn't just the peaceful she felt when she spent time with her sister and friends. This was something beyond that. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this; like nothing could touch her no matter how hard it would try. It felt nice; she let a smile find its place on her lips as she gently rubbed her head against the seventh seat's chest again.

Neither one drifted beyond the state they were in; the point where you're just out of it enough to feel rested but still able to get up quickly. The two stayed like this for another hour. As Kokoa had said earlier, they were comfy. Not a word was spoken, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable; quite the opposite actually. The two couldn't have felt less uncomfortable, physically or mentally.

"Shuzen-san, I think the nurses are about to start their rounds again" Hanataro warned as he realized the time.

Kokoa sat up, with a sleepy look still on her face, and looked at the door. She had wanted to stay how they were longer, but she didn't want rumors spread either. It was bad enough the half pint witch started one claiming she had a crush on the shinigami she had slept on top of; she didn't want any sort of 'proof' to the rumor to be discovered.

"Damn;" as she popped her neck "I was comfy."

"You seemed like it;" Hanataro said with a small laugh "don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Good, I don't want to have to threaten to rip your throat out with my teeth;" in a joking tone as she got out of the small bed "seriously though" looking back to the shinigami then to the ground "I've never told anyone that before and…" she fought to admit it "it felt good to finally say it. You didn't give me any pitiful looks or anything. You just let me get it out; so" a small blush came to her cheeks "thanks."

"It wasn't a problem;" as he sat up "and I promise I'm going to get better at healing Yokai. I'll figure out those subtle differences and find a way to make healing kido more effective. No matter how long it takes me."

Kokoa fought the blush that was trying to show itself as she nodded to him and left the room. She was confused about why she was feeling this way because of him. Sure he was nice, sweet even, and he didn't care that she had threatened to beat the living hell out of him, and let her practically sleep on top of him and made her feel warm inside and…

'_DAMNIT!'_ she shouted at herself.

Turns out the pipsqueak was right; she did have a crush on the shinigami. There was no way in hell she was going to let the small witch even get a whiff of what she had just discovered. That was the last thing she wanted; the child genius would never shut-up about it. It'd be childish mockings from sun up to sun down from her. She'd end up ripping the tiny witch apart with her bare hands after too long.

The small vampire was half way to the dorms when she bumped into her sister; who spent ten minutes explaining what she had learned from the Shinigami King. The red head was surprised that someone had been calling the shots from the shadows for the events that had happened at Yokai Academy last year. It was hard to believe, but not beyond comprehension.

"So… what are we gonna do Onee-sama?" Kokoa asked.

"I need to get stronger;" Moka said as she looked to the multi-colored sky "I need to figure out how to unlock the Shinso blood in me so I won't be on the sidelines. But Kokoa…" looking back to her little sister that showed potential sorrow.

"What?" not liking the look her sister was giving her.

"I don't want you to get mixed up in this. We already lost Akua and I don't think I could handle losing you too. Please…"

"NO!" Kokoa shouted "LIKE IT OR NOT, I'M GONNA BE RIGHT BESIDE YOU ONEE-SAMA. IT'S BECAUSE WE LOST AKUA THAT WE NEED TO BE TOGETHER IN THIS! WE'RE FAMILY AND I AIN'T GONNA LET YOU DO THIS ON YER OWN! Akua died on her own;" her hands balled up into fists so tightly her arms were shaking "we haven't even heard back from the yuki-ona village about where they're sending her body. I want to be there for you no matter what; so if you end up… if you end up" tears began to run down her face "dying, you won't be alone like Akua. And I don't want to die alone either. I might sound selfish by saying that, but I'm gonna be right beside you in this rather you like it or not."

Moka could see that defiant look in her younger sister's eyes; it was a look that she recognized, one that she had originally inspired. The first time she saw that look was when she told her that if she had time to cry, she had time to train and get stronger. There was something more to it this time though, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Baka," in a soft whisper "I guess… we both have something to strive towards."

-Kokoa's room-

A loud knock echoed through the empty room from the door; another one.

"Maintenance" the man said as he opened the door slowly.

The man found the room was empty and quickly changed the damaged light bulbs from the fixtures on the ceiling. His eyes made their way to the small fridge that was sitting next to the nightstand. A smirk grew on his face when he saw the vast number of transfusion packs on the inside. He pulled out a syringe filled with a blackish fluid from his tool box and started to put small amounts of the fluid into each transfusion bag.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Sora hit the ground hard after taking a left hook from Grimmjow. While the Arrancar was in a gigai, it did little to dampen his physical strength and it hurt like hell. The black haired boy's abilities meant little compared to what Grimmjow was able to do. He got back up and attacked the panther again.

"Any idea who they really are?" Ichigo asked Soifon as Talia joined in on the fight between Sora and Grimmjow.

"They're still kids if what I think is true; probably at least eighteen years in the future. They let that much slip when they told us the 'Paradox Theory'. Sora's not using any Hadaka stances in his fighting, but Talia is; suggesting that Talia is from the Soul Society, but Sora isn't. Sora's stances closely resemble what yours look like, so he probably studied the same style you did growing up. His movements are slow, but if he isn't from the Soul Society then he's probably in a living body and has those limitations on him."

"You can tell all that just by watching them fight?" Orihime asked in amazement.

"I've had years of experience, it comes naturally after a while. They also seem rather comfortable around us; I can assume that means they're close to us in their time."

"Yea…" watching Sora get punched in the gut "no one spars with Grimmjow for kicks."

"I'm done;" Sora coughed as he stood up.

"Do you need healed?" Orihime asked.

"I'm good," has he held his hand up declining the offer "nothing's broken. I just need to sleep it off."

"Being able to bounce back after fighting Grimmjow isn't something many can do;" a deep voice said "it's impressive."

Everyone looked back and saw a black cat sitting on a rock using its hind leg to scratch behind its ear.

"Oi Yoruichi-san, you're still here?" Ichigo asked.

"Why would I go sit around that boring old shop when there's entertainment here?" she answered bluntly "and I've told you not to call me san; it makes me feel old."

"But aren't you old?"

Scratch marks suddenly appeared on Ichigo's face and he shouted in pain; Orihime started panicking just as quickly as the scratches appeared.

"WHAT THE HELL YORUICHI-SAN?!" as he held his slightly bleeding face.

"I don't know why you're blaming me;" she said innocently "my hands are clean in this."

"Not your paws!"

The feline looked at her paw and saw a small drip of blood fall from her nails. Deciding to take advantage of her abilities she changed back to her human form.

"See, clean" as the smoke cleared and she showed her hands.

"PUT SOME FRIGGIN CLOTHES ON DAMNIT!" both Ichigo and Sora shouted at her in the exact same way.

This caused everyone in the room to just stare at Sora as he kept his beet red face turned away from Yoruichi's nude form. That definitely explained some of the things Soifon had brought up.

"Congrats Ichigo, it's a boy" Yoruichi laughed as she patted her student on the back.

"Shaddup and put some damn clothes on you cradle robbing hag" Sora said without thinking.

A vein in Yoruichi's forehead popped just before she vanished with shunpo and reappeared behind the teen.

"What'd you just call me?" with anger in her tone.

Sora's eyes went wide before he was grabbed by the throat and slammed into the ground and then thrown into a boulder. No one wanted to even consider trading places with the boy that was now a punching bag for the Goddess of the Flash. The only thing that could be seen was dust getting thrown into the air.

"Should we save him?" Grimmjow asked.


	41. Chapter 41

Everyone could swear they saw Sora's soul slowly leaving his body as Yoruichi walked away from the practically broken teen. No one had wanted to risk their own life to try to pry the enraged cat-like woman from the boy. They even gave the woman wide birth as she walked through the underground training area towards the exit; only Soifon seemed to be able to talk to her. While the mentor and pupil talked, Ichigo shunpo to Sora and got him to Orihime as fast as he could. Once the golden dome was over Sora, he regained consciousness in no time.

"Is it true?" Ichigo asked.

"Ya;" without looking away from his father "I honestly didn't think you and Ma would be here. At least not until I saw you after waking up."

'_**Tap that, right through the door;'**_ Hichigo began singing _**'smack that, too and fro.'**_

'_SHUT THE HELL UP!'_

Orihime's face turned a slight shade of red; this meant that her and Ichigo will work out perfectly and will have at least one child together. On the inside, she was buzzing with excitement. Their son's name was the name of her brother; she wondered if it would be her or Ichigo that suggested it. That thought felt weird to her; 'their son'. Her face heated up a little more at what that meant; they're going to have sex.

"Goat-face doesn't let up either;" Sora said "if anything he's gonna get worse. No matter how many walls I put him through, he never backs off."

"Sounds about right" Ichigo said as he shook his head.

-Soul Society; Division Thirteen-

"Thanks for getting me out of there Kuchiki-san;" Akua said yet again as they walked through the halls "I've never cared for hospitals."

"Just remember not to rip that wound open;" Rukia said "that was a nasty bite and you lost a lot of blood because of it."

"I was a vampire when I was alive, that was nothing compared to how much I can lose before it starts to get dangerous."

"What are vampires like?" with a sparkle in her eyes as she practically pinned Akua against a wall.

"Take what you think you know about us, and throw it away. Most vampire lore is complete crap;" as she gently pushed the small shinigami out of her personal space "crosses don't repel us, sunlight doesn't do squat, and we only use a coffin to bury the dead. Water does hurt us though; it's a pure element and the energy we can produce gets cancelled out by it in a very painful way. Crosses can act as limiters though if they have the right spell put on them."

"But… uh" not wanting to insult her "the whole… drinking blood thing?"

"Yea, that part's true. Blood is called 'the fluid of life' by every species for a reason. For vampires it replenishes our strength; if we were to get too weak there's a chance of blindly going on a binge and causing serious damage to those around us. Not sure if that'll carry over to the Soul Society or not, but I'm sure I'll figure it out."

Rukia's eyes sparkled yet again at what she was learning. She had figured there was something different about the girl next to her when she found her fighting a Hollow in the Rukongai District to the west. The girl that was now identified as a vampire had knocked out two others by time she had showed up with the patrol and had let her guard down for a split second which gave the Hollow enough of an opening to bite into her shoulder.

"Who's your new friend Rukia-san?" a jolly voice asked.

Akua looked towards the voice and saw a man with long white hair, but brown eyebrows, wearing a taichou haori.

"Ukitake-taichou" Rukia said in surprise "you're feeling well today?"

"For the moment, yes;" with a smile "I'm Ukitake Jushiro, Taichou of the Thirteen Division. I didn't think we received new members for another couple months."

"I'm not from the Academy;" as she shook the taichou's hand "Kuchiki-san found me in the outer area pass the walls of the Seireitei. I'm Shuzen Akua."

"Shuzen?" with curiosity "your father wouldn't happen to be…"

"Shuzen Issa, yes."

"I must be honest; you don't seem too much like him other than your wiry hair."

"You… know father?"

"Sadly;" with a sigh "I met him nearly five hundred years ago. He was rather young at the time and couldn't get over the fact that Akasha had eyes for a half-breed; such a brat."

Akua just had a look on her face that showed she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Someone she had just met called her father, the strongest vampire alive, a brat. That wasn't at all how she knew him; she'd always known him as a powerful man that demanded nothing short of the highest respect from everyone around him. Anything less, and you'd face his wrath.

"I heard Ichigo had given him one hell of a beating the other day as well. From the report Arabai-fuku-taichou sent, he struck his girlfriend and Ichigo lost it; letting his Hollow have a piece of him. Issa wasn't in very good shape afterwards either."

Akua's jaw hit the floor before she fell over in complete disbelief. Her father was on the losing side of a one sided battle?!

"WHOSE ICHIGO DATING?!" Rukia shouted.

"Who else; Orihime-san."

"It's about damn time!" the tiny shinigami said with joy.

"Father… lost?" Akua muttered to herself from the floor "wait!" as she quickly got off the floor "if father lost then that must mean that this Ichigo person is a powerful, full blooded, shinigami taichou!"

"Powerful, yes" Ukitake said "full blooded shinigami taichou… no. His father was once the taichou of the Tenth Division, and his mother was human."

Akua crashed to the floor yet again.

"Father lost to a half-breed?" in complete disbelief.

"It isn't the first time;" with a small smile.

This only put Akua in a deeper state of gloom.

"Everything I know about him is a lie" in a depressed tone as her head sunk lower.

"If it makes you feel any better, Ichigo gained his shinigami powers less than a year ago and two months after that gained bankai. He's defeated most taichou in the Gotei Thirteen and isn't exactly a normal person;" Rukia said "he took on Zaraki Kenpachi with only shikai and won."

"I never thought a half-breed would be capable of becoming so strong…"

"Ichigo still considers himself human though;" Ukitake said.

"That's worse" with her head hung as low as possible.

"Well, it's about time for dinner" the taichou said "would you care to join me Rukia?"

"Thank you, but Nii-sama has scheduled a family dinner and I must be present" Rukia said.

"Very well;" with an understanding smile "Shuzen-chan, where will you be staying?"

"Back at the Fourth Division;" with a sigh "Unohana-taichou wants me to report back for another treatment."

"We have some empty rooms here at the Division headquarters you can stay in; I never cared for hospitals either."

"Thank you" with a deep bow.

-Yokai Academy-

Sora cracked his neck as he stepped out of the shower and headed back to his temporary room, courtesy of the Head Master. He couldn't believe he accidently let that insult to Yoruichi slip; he had thought he learned his lesson a while ago. The psycho cat-woman wouldn't even let him call her 'granny'.

"You decent?" he heard Talia ask from the other side of his door.

"Come in" as he finished putting his sleep clothes on.

Sora had to keep a laugh from escaping him when he saw the attire his friend was wearing. Sweatpants that were way too short in the legs, even for her, a shirt that looked like it had belonged to Yukari Sendo at her current age because of the cartoon bear on the front, and her hair was up in a towel.

"Shut-up;" she growled at him "it's all that was available."

"Whatever;" still chuckling "so what are you in the mood for?"

"To anyone else, that comment would've made you sound like a pervert. And…" as she looked to the ground "I wanted to see him."

Sora stopped his chuckling and became serious. This Aono Tsukune was someone that his friend had looked up to greatly, but never got the chance to meet him. He understood why; from what his dad had told him about Aono Tsukune, he was a good man and great friend. He was a lot like his dad in many ways; was willing to put everything on the line for his friends, loyal to a near fault, and did what was necessary to protect the one he loved.

"Right now, he's safe" in a soft tone "and that's the best thing for now. Until we find Issac I don't think he would be safe at Yokai Academy. I know you've always wanted to meet him, but…" trying to find the right words "you need to be careful. We can't risk changing the future. One wrong word to the wrong person and everything could change; you've always hated Issac for not showing you what he looked like in person, and envied your brother for looking like him. But you can't just do what you want here. It could do more damage than getting lectured by your mom."

Talia knew he was right, and needed to remember that the entire time they are going to be here, but she wanted to see him so badly. Of course, she wasn't the only one that needed to be careful with what was said. With Sora's situation at home, one wrong word from him around Ichigo and Orihime and he could very well cease to exist completely.

"All I've ever had of him is this locket;" as she pulled a necklace out from under her shirt "other than stories, it's all I will ever have."

"I know. But you asked for my help because you trust me; so please" as he took her hand "try to look pass what you think of everyone. This is a different time and what we know hasn't happened yet. They're different from how we know them. I mean, look at Yukari;" in a joking tone "she's still shorter than you and probably hasn't even started puberty yet."

"HEY!" giving her friend a soft jab to the gut "don't make fun of my height. And the only reason I asked for your help is cause you're a second degree black belt."

"Po-ta-to, po-tat-o" he said with a shrug.

The two laughed a little before Talia decided to go back to the room the Head Master gave her.

-Morning-

Sora left the Head Master's office with a bag over his shoulder and started heading to the classroom he asked to be put into. While he was from another time, he was still a student and his mom would be furious if he used any excuse to get out of class. His eyes glanced over the schedule he had written down; first period: third year math, second: art, third: English, lunch, fourth: physical education, last: literature. A sigh escaped his mouth as he rounded a corner; he didn't like that this was a part of having a 'simple, apple-pie life', as Talia put it. He accidently bumped into someone.

"Sorry" he said as he kept walking.

"You're going to be punk!"

He easily dodged the punch that was thrown at him, strong-armed his attacker in the gut, and then shoved his face into the wall before kicking his knees out and slamming the back of his head into the ground.

"Who else want some?!" looking at his attacker's friends.

The group looked at each other then charged at him.

-Outside the window-

"So they're from the future?" Ginnei asked Rangiku.

"Seems like it;" as she moved a small group of hairs from her eyes "Sora's Ichigo's son. We haven't figured out who Talia belongs to yet though."

"How funny would it be if she was Tsukune's?"

Rangiku tapped her chin and thought about it; it seemed like it might be a possibility. There were a few things wrong though. While her hair matched in color, her personality seemed completely different. Talia seemed more hard headed, like Rukia or Renji; she'd even be so bold as to claim Soifon as the mother. It was even possible that she wasn't anyone she knows' kid; at least knows yet.

"I'm not sure" with a sigh "it all seems kinda confusing to me."

The window next to them shattered as a body was thrown through. The two looked inside and saw what looked like an all out brawl; some students were knocked unconscious, others were crawling away from the person in the middle of the group.

"That'll be Sora;" Rangiku groaned "like father like son I guess."

Orihime had told her about how often Ichigo would get into fights growing up. It seemed that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree in this case; Sora hadn't even been here twenty four hours and was in a fight.

"Should we stop him?" Ginnei asked.

"I think it'll be best if we let him finish this on his own."

-Inside-

Sora knocked out another student that had taken his true form and attacked him. He looked around at the surrounding students that were unconscious then to the students that hadn't joined in the fight yet.

"Anyone else?" as he let go of his most recent victim.

The group backed away quickly and retreated to their classrooms.

"Good" as he picked up his bag and went to class.

"It's going to be a long day…" Rangiku groaned.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired boy woke up because of the ray of light shining brightly into his eyes. When he sat up he saw the white robe he had been given to wear until after his trial; depending on how that went. He stood the rest of the way up and stretched his arms before cracking his neck; he hadn't slept that long in a while. Since he was staying at the Shinigami Academy if he remembered correctly. It felt weird.

"Do you usually sleep-in this late?" he heard.

"Akua-chan?" in surprise as he turned around and saw her.

"Who did you expect?" in a bored tone.

"I didn't really expect anyone" as he scratched the back of his neck "how'd you end up in the Fourth Division yesterday?"

"I'd been there a couple days;" she pulled her top to the side a little bit and showed the wrappings on her shoulder "I had been injured by a Hollow and Kuchiki Rukia took me there. You never answered my question yesterday. What kind of mess are you in this time?"

"You already know part of it;" with a small chuckle "before I went to the yuki-ona village I was AWOL for a couple days. After that I dropped out of the Shinigami Academy to go to the yuki-ona village. When I finally woke back up after our fight I sorta went AWOL again to get more training…"

"Did it have anything to do with what happened?" in a slightly cold tone.

Tsukune looked to the ground in shame; he remembered what happened in the village after he gave Ghoul control. He had practically destroyed the ceremonial chamber and killed Fujisaki.

"Yes," his shame obvious in his voice "I wasn't strong enough to beat Fujisaki and had to give Ghoul control. I was afraid of what that could've meant…"

"YOU BAKA!" she shouted at him "you have no idea just how powerful your bankai truly is; do you? If you would've wanted to, you could've defeated Fujisaki with a single hit. But instead you let your will crumble?! You thought yourself too weak to…"

"I know that now;" he interrupted "at the time I had just achieved bankai and didn't know what it was capable of. Even after getting my hollowfication training and fighting the Tres Espada, I don't know everything about it. I had my throat sliced open, my arm cut completely off, and I was ran through the heart twice; yet I was able to heal from it. 'Fear is pointless unless you fear your own power'. That's what I was told," as he looked up at her "after seeing just what Ghoul could do… I realized that I was capable of the same thing. And that terrifies me.

When I was alive I was always the one that had to be protected; Moka-chan, Kurumu-chan, Mizore-chan, Ruby-chan, and even Yukari-chan always had to protect me. Because I was too weak to defend myself from even the lower level Yokai. And now that I'm able to defend myself, I have no clue how to control that much power to keep from killing someone by accident. I learned that the hard way when I fought the Doppelganger for the second time. All that training" his fist balled up tightly "and I hadn't bothered to learn how to hold back my own strength so I could fight a living person without killing them.

I was a complete idiot. Before the yuki-ona village I thought that I'd only be fighting against Hollow and Arrancar; now I know it's from every front. Spirit beings and living beings. If I can't hold back against a living person, how can I… how can I stay at Yokai Academy without hurting my friends; or worse, becoming someone like Ghoul and never knowing how to hold back?"

"Tsukune-san; come here" as she motioned with a single finger.

Tsukune stepped towards the vampire.

"Closer."

Tsukune listened and was right in front of the bars that separated them.

"Good, now I want you to listen very carefully."

Tsukune gently wrapped his fingers around the bars and leaned in close.

"Have you ever considered…" she hit him in the face with a powerful punch that sent him crashing into the wall on the other side of the cell he was in "THAT YOU'RE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL BAKA?!"

Tsukune held the spot he was hit at and practically coward in fear from the furious vampire.

"The very fact that you regret not knowing how to hold back already shows that you're not like Ghoul;" as she angrily grabbed the bars of the cell "when you have no idea what your opponent is capable of, holding back is the last thing you do! When you fought against me in the yuki-ona village you held back against me because I'm Moka's sister; had I not have been holding back against you as well I would've used that to my advantage to kill you! Even when you released your bankai you never made any attacks, you stayed on the defensive; had I not yielded I could've kept you at that point and you never would've had the chance to make an attack.

It's only after you find out what your opponent is capable of that you hold back if you plan on letting them live. If you hold back against them right off the bat," as she put her face closer to the bars "the only thing you will succeed at is allowing your opponent to know your weakness. You can't let that fear of killing control you. If you don't want to kill someone, then DON'T. You beat them into submission and leave it at that; if they get back up and try to keep fighting, then you don't hold back as much. If you don't want to kill, then only do so if you absolutely have to!"

Akua's breathing had gotten heavier with every word she spoke and was now panting in anger.

"You and Ghoul are two completely different people;" as she took a deep breath "I can promise you that much. From what Moka-chan's told me of you, you're possibly the perfect guy. You never lead any of your friends from your harem on," as she looked at the ground "you actually listened when they talked. You cared about them and had no intentions on just getting in their pants and leaving.

For the longest time I hated humans; so naturally when I first found out that my sister had made friends with a human, I wanted to march right onto campus and kill you. But Moka was so happy to have a friend, something she hadn't had before. So no matter how much it irritated me, I let it be; gradually, she told me more and more about you and I suddenly felt something I hadn't in many years. I felt that I could possibly not hate humans. Like I should give them another chance; because my sister, who had been tormented by humans all through elementary school, was giving one a chance to be her friend.

I don't think you truly understood what that meant to her; to have a friend that she could talk to all day. Someone that wanted to be around her just to be around her. For the first time in a long time, she was happy again."

"Moka-chan was my first friend at Yokai Academy;" Tsukune said "and the reason I stayed instead of running away after the first day. Before I met Moka-chan, Kurumu-chan, Mizore-chan, Yukari-chan, and Ruby-chan I had the stereotypes humans had created stuck in my head. Meeting them was probably the best thing that had happened in my life; I began to see everything from a new perspective."

"Good;" the older vampire said as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'll do anything I can to protect them."

"I know."

-Afternoon: Yokai Academy-

Sora left the classroom and was thankful he went the day without another problem. That was not something he cared too much for; he had no problem handling it, but that meant wasting time. The only time he didn't see it as a waste of time was at a tournament, and then it was more annoying picking off the competition.

"Yo; Sora" he heard.

"Sup dad?" as he looked at him.

"What happened this morning?"

"Come on," he complained "they started it. How was I supposed to know it'd turn out to be a battle royal?"

"I know," as he put his hands up trying to get the boy to calm down "and I have no room to try to lecture you about something like that considering how often it happened to me. I just wanted to see what happened."

"I bumped into a guy, apologized like I'm supposed to, and he got an attitude and attacked me. After that his friends joined in, and one thing just led to another."

"Alright…"

The two just stood in silence for a minute.

"Man this is weird" Ichigo said.

"You're telling me? Right now I'm older than you;" Sora said "by two years."

"Grimmjow decided he wanted another fight with me; odds are everyone's gonna be there since only Orihime and Nel really saw the last time we fought."

"Thanks, but I need to study for a while first;" as he pointed to his bag "still trying to have a somewhat normal life."

"That's good;" as he nodded his head "the last thing I'd want is my family to get pulled into this lifestyle."

"And you'll do a good job with it;" Sora assured him "you kept me and sis away from the whole 'fight, fight, fight' life pretty well. I just took up martial arts in case any Hollows attacked me cause of how my reiatsu feels. They seem to be drawn to it from time to time."

"Sis…?"

"I've probably said too much;" as he scratched his cheek "I'll see you and Ma at dinner."

With that Sora left to his room, leaving Ichigo in a slight state of disbelief. He has not just Sora, but a daughter as well? As Sora walked, he saw a familiar red head getting in some training; man if she knew what he knew she'd flip shit.

"Kokoa-san" he called out.

"Do I know you?" she growled as she pointed Kyo at him.

"Right… I forgot you weren't there;" he offered his hand to shake "I'm Sora. Me and my friend Talia are from the future."

"So you're the guy Onee-sama mentioned;" she looked him over "I thought you'd be taller. What do you want?"

"Just wanted to say hey," as he used his index finger to move Kyo away from his body "ow" feeling the blade slice into his skin and he looked at the wound to see a little blood seep out "sharp as ever I see. I…"

Kokoa began sniffing the air and eyeing the blood that was on Sora's finger. She gave a gulp as she fought a strange urge to drink it; sure she was a vampire, but an urge this strong? Maybe she had been training herself harder than she thought.

"I should probably get going;" not liking how Kokoa was looking at his wound "I'll probably see you later" as he waved bye and left.

Sora kept his ears open in case anything happened; he was sure he could handle himself if anything went down, but that didn't mean he wanted to stick around and wait for it to. Growing up he always remembered her acting a little strange around him; he always just wrote it off as her not knowing anything about kids. Ichigo would ask her to babysit every now and then, and from what he remembered she was always hesitant about it.

Kokoa rushed to her room and quickly pulled a transfusion pack from her mini-fridge. She ripped the end off the tube with her teeth and began gulping down the blood. She swore as she finished the packet in record time; it was as if she hadn't had any blood in a week. Why did Sora's blood smell so… she searched for the right word to describe it; tempting? That was probably the best way to describe it. Something about his blood was tempting her and that made her uncomfortable.

She eyed her mini-fridge yet again and debated on drinking another pack just to be safe. Yesterday she only had one, and with everything that happened she probably should've had two or three, so that was probably why Sora's blood smelled how it did. Another minute of debating in her head and she grabbed a second pack and began to sip on it. Or at least it started as a sip, but quickly turned into gulping again. She let out a satisfied sigh as she put the second pack into the biohazard trash bin she had been given at the beginning of the year.

"Maybe I'll have a third after dinner;" as she licked her exposed fang "after dinner" she promised herself.

Since yesterday had been so crazy, she didn't have as many packets as she should have. And with how much fighting went on, she easily justified having a third packet today for dessert. She laid on her bed and waited for dinner time; her stomach growled loudly. Her own growl answered back to it; warning it to pipe down. She always ate at certain times and didn't want to deviate from that. She tried to force her thoughts elsewhere.

Gradually her thoughts drifted to the shinigami Hanataro; he was really sweet and… she wasn't sure how to finish the thought. He seemed to care about her well being, and that was something she was only used to from Moka. He also had a level of bravery that some vampires didn't even have; knowing his zanpakuto was pretty much useless on the front lines but still heading to them. She liked the way his hair was styled too; it made him look cute.

"GAHHH!" she shouted in annoyance "that pipsqueak isn't gonna leave me alone if she finds out!"

She was glad no one walked in on her and Hanataro when she was using him as a pillow; he was very comfy and she didn't want to get up. She couldn't remember a time she felt so peaceful. Every day back home it was train, eat, beat the hell out of prick of lower level vampires for making unwanted advances on her, and so on. Being able to actually not care about anything; it felt amazing.

"Damn nurses having to make rounds;" she growled.

He had promised her that he'd get better at healing Yokai because he felt he had been the reason she was nearly killed by that Hollow. She made note to stop attacking him like she had been; she owed him a lot and that would be a good way to start to thank him. Her thoughts went to what happened the day before; Hanataro had jumped in the way of the Hollow attacking her. She hated that she had to be saved like that. She knew she needed to get stronger; much stronger.

"I'll get stronger;" she promised.

To anyone else, it would've sounded like she was just making that promise to herself. In reality though, she was promising Hanataro even though he couldn't hear it. He was hurt because she wasn't strong enough to keep a horde of Hollows at bay; she wasn't sure when he'd be cleared to leave the infirmary either. This feeling of guilt; she hated it. She hated it to the very core, if she weren't so tired last night it would've kept her up.

-Talia-

The girl from the future watched the fight in front of her with a bored look as air was blown past her at a ridiculous speed. This was tame compared to what she was used to watching; once Ichigo and Grimmjow nearly destroyed the Eleventh Division Headquarters. It wasn't that the building was nearly destroyed that pissed off Kenpachi; it was the fact that he wasn't invited to the fight. On the thought of Kenpachi, she could remember the battle crazy taichou telling her and her brother stories about her father's battles. She still believes that the psycho blows details out of proportion.

'_He destroyed the underground training area at Yokai Academy with a single attack'_ his words echoed in her mind.

That thought was laughable; the only one that was capable of such a thing was Ichigo using his Getsuga Tensho with his hollowfication. She didn't doubt that he was strong, to have the respect of Kenpachi took great strength, but not as strong as everyone made him sound. It often came to her mind that she was just being told things like that so she'd be encouraged to be just like him.

Most kids grew up thinking that their father is this great, unbeatable person; she grew up knowing hers had been killed in war. No matter who would tell her otherwise, she couldn't bring herself to believe the stories of his strength. Instead she had to strive to be more like his personality. That was hard at times though; she was always arguing with her mother and barely got along with her brother at times. She had always distanced herself from others because they often looked at her like she was something she wasn't and had few friends as a result. She wanted to finally meet him and know the truth about who he was; so she could know who she was.

-Tsukune-

Tsukune heard pops come from his back as he stretched; he figured if he couldn't actually train, he would at the very least work on his flexibility. There were several times when he was fighting the Tres Espada where being more flexible would've been a good thing. Other than Akua, not many people stopped by to see him; Ikkaku had stopped by after Kenpachi had told him what Tsukune had done. The bald shinigami wanted to know when he'd get his rematch; this time they'd be using their actual zanpakuto instead of just generic blades from the Academy.

He looked out the window and felt it was almost time for him to be taken to Yamamoto's office. He was worried about what was going to happen from there. He knew that he'd be able to present facts from his point of view to Yamamoto today, and in the next two days he'd be sent to trial in front of Central Forty Six. It's the two days of waiting that was worrying him; he wanted this to hurry up and be done so he could find out if he would be able to see his friends again or not.

"Aono Tsukune;" he heard the guard say "it's time."

-Yamamoto's Office-

The Sou-taichou had spent the day reviewing the reports from Yokai Academy; there was practically nothing suggesting that Aono was conspiring against the Soul Society. The only thing definitive that was listed was that there was the two day period where he went AWOL, and he didn't show back up until after the abduction of a… he looked back at the report, Kurono Kurumu and Shirayuki Mizore. After that however, the boy ignored his order to stay at Yokai Academy and went after his friends.

The old man stroked his beard as he thought about the last time someone did the same thing; Ichigo. As it turned out, Ichigo ignoring his order was probably the best thing that could've been done for the Seireitei. Ichigo's small scale invasion to rescue Inoue Orihime led to the defeat of Aizen and the saving of thousands of lives. This made him wonder what spoils could come from what Aono could tell him about his single man attack on the peaceful village he helped all those years ago.

The physical presence of the Tres Espada, who had been eluding capture since the war ended, made him think that she had been given refuge by the ones that orchestrated the kidnapping. Outside of that, he wasn't sure what to think of this sudden alliance. There was a knock at his office door.

"Enter;" his voice boomed.

The doors opened and Aono was led in by the guards.

"Before we begin;" as he stood up "the Kido Corps has designed a new spell that will keep you from using any hollow powers while in the Soul Society."

"I understand."

He knew that the kido was going to be put on him regardless of if he wanted it to be or not. So there was no point trying to argue.

"Through the reiatsu flows the strength of life," Yamamoto began as he held his arm out towards Aono "energy collides and creates power, darkness brings destruction, light brings life, light prevent the darkness from spreading. Ketsugo dakuenerugi (Bind Dark Energy)."

A strange seal grew on the Sou-taichou's arm as he did the incantation and when he finished the seal was launched at Tsukune. When it made contact, he felt like he had been hit by a truck driven by Zaraki-taichou. He fell to the ground coughing.

"Stand and open your robe so I know it took hold."

Tsukune did as ordered and discovered his arms had a single black line spiraling around them as they went towards his torso with a solid black line every ten inches that went all the way around his arm and made a complete circle. On his torso was what he could only describe as black, tattoo looking chains that went all the way around his torso in various directions.

"Good;" he looked to the guards "you may leave for now."

The guards nodded and left the room.

"You have some explaining to do, Aono Tsukune."

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Everyone sat at the large table as they ate dinner; Mizore, Kurumu, Yukari, and Moka sat at one end eating their meals. Kurumu kept a close eye on the hollow she had used her Allure on to make sure it didn't suddenly get hungry for something other than the Durian she had given it. Kokoa sat next to Talia and across from Rangiku. Renji and Ginnei sat next to each other chatting about the fuku-taichou's tattoos and how it made him look like he was Yakuza. Ichigo and Orihime sat next to each other with Sora right across from them and next to Soifon.

Their conversations had to be limited to the events of the past few days. Sora was finally getting actual insight about the events that seemed so insignificant as he was being told now; if they only knew. He kept his composure and made it seem like it was only as important as they made it sound.

"So Sora-kun;" Orihime asked with a smile "do you have a girlfriend?"

The boy from the future choked on his drink at the innocent question.

"N-no…" he answered defensively "I haven't really looked…"

A half lie; he had looked but not many of the girls at the high school were willing to go out with someone that got into as many fights as he did. They were more interested in a one night stand deal; which was something he didn't want. He remembered Rangiku from his time constantly saying 'like father like son'.

"Girl trouble then?"

"What kinda question is that?" as he quickly stuffed food in his mouth.

"Just a question" as she shied away a little.

"We can't really give him advise anyway;" Ichigo sighed "I have two sisters, I'm dating you, been friends with Tatsuki since we were kids, and I don't know how many other female friends and I still can't figure out girls."

"You sound hopeless" Soifon said as she took a bite of her fish.

Ichigo let out a snort and turned his head away in annoyance at her comment. The petite taichou made it sound like understanding women was an easy thing when in reality it was probably harder than advance physics. He really didn't care though, the only one he ever wanted to understand was Orihime. His thought was interrupted when he saw a friend walking towards the dinner table.

"Oi, Hanataro;" he called out.

Kokoa looked up when she heard the name and then looked towards where it was being said. A growl escaped her as she got up and started walking towards the shinigami. Everyone just got quite and watched to see what was going to happen.

"What the hell are ya doin' out of the infirmary?" as she grabbed his shirt.

"I'm used to being a part of the medical staff" with a scared laugh "not being a patient. So I sort of… checked myself out…?" hoping he had chosen the right words.

"Dafuq does 'checked yerself out' mean?" rapidly getting angry.

"I used one of Soifon-taichou's tricks. I said I was 'chilled' and asked for an extra pillow with the blankets. Then I made the blankets and pillow look like a body."

"I don't know what you're talking about;" Soifon said as she looked away from the group.

"I'm gonna check yer ass back in ta the infirmary;" as the red head started to drag the boy back to where he came from.

"She suddenly cares about his well being" Yukari said in a smug tone "makes you wonder what happened between them when we lost sight of them; huh?"

Kurumu and Mizore quickly caught on to where the tiny witch was going.

"It does seem suspicious;" the yuki-ona said.

"Care to enlighten us Kokoa?" Kurumu asked with a sly smile.

"Not that it's any of yer business but nothin' happened" the small vampire answered angrily.

"Then why did you refuse to leave his hospital room?" Moka asked.

"I wanted to make sure he was gonna be fine" her face slowly getting red.

"There's no reason to hide it Shuzen-san;" Hanataro said "it's not like it's a big deal."

Kokoa went to clasp his mouth shut but Hanataro managed to keep her hand away. This caused everyone to turn their full attention to what was about to be said.

"When the Hollows were attacking she lost her grip on her Bake-bake bat and I had to save her, but I got hurt in the process."

"Oh;" Mizore said immediately backing off the subject "I guess that makes sense."

"Big, bad first year vampire Shuzen Kokoa needed to be saved because she lost her grip on her weapon?" Kurumu laughed "I can understand why you'd want that to be kept quiet. Everyone that was once afraid of you would be laughing at you."

"Shuzen the demon; the first year that won't take attitude from anyone…" Yukari laughed as she held her sides "lost her grip on her weapon and had to be saved?! That's too rich!"

"Shut… Shut-up!" Kokoa shouted at the tiny witch.


	42. Chapter 42

Author's Note:  
This chapter has a lot of filler info that some might say is irrelevant, but it has relevance to the story so please bare with it.

Demon.

Xxxxxxx

"How long do you think this will take?" Inui asked.

John looked up from his book and to his new accomplice before taking a minute to think. There were several things that had to be factored in; normal vampire rate of blood absorption, had the subject already gone through the rapid increase in strength like vampires normally go through or was she a late bloomer, and how much blood she consumes in a short amount of time. Even if she were to just drink one pack a day it would take about a week for any results to show; other than that he wasn't sure.

"No more than a week;" as he went back to his sci-fi book "handed the most dangerous weapon in the galaxy, points it at his face trying to examine it" with a laugh "don't worry though, once the affects take hold I'm hoping things will get very interesting. Why don't you go kill some time by chatting up Akashiya-san? She is the one you've had an eye for since last year isn't she?"

"She'd be able to call me out without a problem" Inui answered with annoyance.

"Hold on;" as he dug into his pocket and threw something to him "wear that. Say it's a limiter and she will most likely write off the different feeling youki."

Inui looked at the item he was tossed and saw it was a simple cross necklace; nothing fancy about it. His eyes narrowed at his accomplice. There was something about him that he didn't like but couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't that he had blackmailed him into helping, or that he seemed way too relaxed for what they were trying to do all on their own. No, it was something completely different.

"Be sure not to show-boat either;" John warned "vampires can turn their youki into raw energy where you just turn it into muscle. The moment you take your 'vampire' form, you'll be found out."

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire walked across the campus grounds and was thinking of a way to unlock the Shinso blood within her. Both the Head Master and Fuhai had no clue how it was done since both had met her mother long after she had unlocked hers. That only left Zangetsu that would know how her mother had done it; he spent the better part of two centuries with her. Even if he had met her after she had unlocked it, and had control of it, he had to have been told secrets of how to increase ones strength by tapping into their own blood. Sure it would be different from vampire to vampire, but the principle would remain the same. There had to be something that had initially caused her mother to have tapped into the power she had. If she had told Zangetsu the reason she had began her Shinso training, then she might be able to figure out how to tap into it herself.

One thought bothered her though; Zangetsu had told her that her mother had spent a long time training to control the Shinso blood. Just what was 'a long time'; ten years, fifty, a hundred? How hard did she need to train to be able to handle the immediate threat of attacks from Hollow, Arrancar, and whomever else was mixed into this? If this was going to be a war as Death hinted, then she needed to be able to stand against anything that could come at her. She stopped in her tracks; anything that could come at her.

That thought alone brought up a painful memory. There was one person she had already come up against that she had nearly lost her life to, the very thing she had essentially created/given birth to; the ghoulish nature within Tsukune. That evil within Tsukune was under control for now, but how long before Tsukune wasn't Tsukune anymore? What would happen Ghoul took control again? It was her responsibility to do what must be done if it had to come to that… That caused her to ball up her fist and fight back tears. She admitted to herself not too long ago that she had loved him, but had acted selfishly by injecting her blood into him. Her first real friend and she performed a betrayal against him that no one should ever do.

"Akashiya-san" she heard coming from her left side.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" she snarled.

With everything that had happened recently, she really couldn't trust anyone that just came up to her knowing her name. Even less so after what the Shinigami King had told her.

"I'm Inui Junya;" he introduced himself "I'm a third year, and uh…" he showed his cross necklace.

"You're…" her eyes widened "a vampire."

"Let the record show" with a gentle smile "you discovered it; those words never left my mouth. Don't want what's left of the Safety Committee to try to come after me; not that they'd last very long. You seem rather distracted;" as he sat down on a bench "need to talk about?"

Moka wasn't sure what to do; a part of her screamed to show this lesser vampire his place and walk away, but another part of her wanted to talk. The last part wanted just blow him off completely. With a defeated sigh, she sat next to him while keeping a little distance between them.

"I'm not really sure where to start;" she admitted "the Hollows, shinigami, family, or from last year?"

"Your eyes seem so sad;" as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees "it robs them of their beauty. Why don't you start with something pleasant?"

"Something pleasant;" she repeated as she looked to the clouds "I guess that would be my first day last year. I had met Tsukune by nearly knocking him out with my bike…" she started.

-Sora-

The boy from the future departed from his dad and ma and headed towards the gym to meet with an old friend of the family's; from the future of course. He figured he could use a good sparring match with someone he actually stood a chance against rather than trying to fight someone he had no hope of beating. He was going to visit none other than the infamous lolicon Miyamoto Haiji; a future dojo master. As he walked into the gym, he could see the karate club beginning to set up for the day.

"Excuse me;" he called out "Miyamoto-sensei?"

The black belt looked to the one that was calling him; he wasn't used to being addressed as sensei except by those in the club. That already told him a good deal about the person calling him.

"I am Miyamoto Haiji" he said as he greeted the new comer.

"Kurosaki Sora;" as he bowed "I was hoping to be able to train with you for the time I'm here."

"What degree are you?"

"Second degree black belt, sensei. I want to go ahead and say that I'm not exactly…" looking for the right word "normal. You see, my father is half human and I don't have the same abilities as him…"

"It's not a problem," cutting him off "we allow sit-ins for everyone; and there's no need for you to call me sensei. You hold the same rank as me at the moment. Who do you usually spar with?"

"My friend Talia until about six months ago;" with a sigh "I finally beat her and she turned into a sore loser."

"Talia? And you said your name is Sora?"

"Yes."

"You're the two from the future?!" with excitement and curiosity in his voice.

"How the hell did that get out on the grapevine?" Sora grumbled "yes."

"DO I FINALLY END UP WITH THE BEAUTIFUL SUN-CHAN AND SHOW UP THAT FLEA BITTEN MUTT, MORIOKA GIN?!" with his fist balled up and flames of anger behind him.

"You find out I'm one of the two people from the future and that's what you ask?" with a sweat drop "get your priorities straight man. And I can't say anything, I'm not sure how messed up the time line is by just me being here, let alone how messed up it could get if I tell those I know who they're gonna end up with."

"Damn" with anime tears running down his face "and you may train with us while you are here."

"Thank you" with a bow.

"Suit up and be ready to go in five minutes;" getting back to his usual serious self.

Sora went to the locker room and changed; as he did so his thoughts went to his own time. He always thought that the couple that shocked everyone, based off the stories he had heard, was a couple that had originally been at each other's throats. He couldn't recall if there had been a death threat or not but when the two made it official that they were dating, everyone had been caught off guard. Almost everyone; his personal sensei Tatsuki seemed to have seen it coming from how she told the story. A small shiver went down his spine as he recalled when his sensei and Miyamoto would spar; neither one was going to back down and they even kept track of who's won how many times. The one thing that always puzzled him about those two though; were they a couple or did they have some sort of 'on again, off again' relationship thing? No matter how many times he tried to wrap his head around it he couldn't figure it out.

As he walked out of the locker room he saw Talia talking with Haiji; he had figured she would find her way here and ask to spar against someone. He could've sworn he saw a sly grin on the club president's face when he noticed him. Something told him he wasn't going to like what was about to happen.

"Sure, you can sit-in while you're here; there's one thing you need to do first. You need to spar against him" Haiji said as he pointed to Sora.

"Fine."

Sora groaned; he had been right.

-Later-

"Ow;" Sora said as he put an ice pack on his cheek.

He had been right in assuming that Talia was still being a sore loser; she had used just about every dirty trick in the book when fighting him. The one thing he was thankful for was that she didn't hit him below the belt. She still hit just as hard as he remembered too.

"Why are women so damn confusing?" he asked himself as he lay back on his bed.

A little more than six months ago, everyone was swearing they were going out. One spar victory later for him and she refuses to even go near him. Six months later, she snuck into his room and asked for his help. And now he's here; laying in bed, holding an ice pack to a slightly swollen cheek, and yet again she's pissed about something. His eyes wondered towards the clock and he saw the time.

"Not even eight" he sighed "guess I should do something for another couple hours."

He found himself walking the grounds of the campus aimlessly; his thoughts on trying to figure out how to find Issac. The Arrancar had the ability to change both his physical appearance _and_ how his reiatsu felt. That's what made him so deadly, he could literally be anyone he wanted and no one would be the wiser. One thing confused him though, Issac had fought alongside Aono Tsukune; so why would he want him dead? The different outcomes of each battle that Aono Tsukune had fought in could very well destroy the future he knew. From what he understood about the Arrancar, the whole reason he wasn't still wondering through the sands of Hueco Mundo was because of Aono Tsukune.

If Issac were to succeed at killing this Aono Tsukune then how differently would things happen? It's not like Tsukune was a small player throughout the war either; he had a key part. The things he was going to do changed everything in how the war could've gone. From what he had heard from Kahlua, he was the reason his sister was born safely.

"Hard to believe someone of that importance is currently just a high school student;" he said to himself.

"Hard to believe that who is just a high school student?" he heard a deep voice ask him.

"Hey Yoruichi-san;" as he looked at a black cat sitting on a tombstone "just thinking out loud. Can I ask you a question?"

"I don't see why not" as she scratched behind her ear.

"Why are girls so hard to understand?"

Yoruichi burst into a fit of laughter and rolled off the tombstone she had been sitting on.

"It's a serious question!" he shouted at her "one day Talia's fine, we spar, I win and she suddenly hated me. Six months later she broke into my room like nothing had happened and now I'm here."

"I'm sorry it's just;" still laughing "women understand women and most of them hate one another. You're what, seventeen and trying to answer a question every guy throughout history has been trying to answer to no avail? You would need to talk to the old fart and I don't think even he understands women; the man's never dated, let alone been married."

"Come on, you gotta have something you can tell me."

"Alright, alright; don't twist my damn tail. You said that Talia started 'hating' you after a spar?"

"Yea."

"You wouldn't have happened to have blocked a kick to the head and then swept her base foot away from you; would you?"

"She landed in a split and pretty much started crying."

"Was it your first time beating her?"

"Yea."

"You didn't say anything about her crying did you?"

Sora grumbled his answer.

"I couldn't hear you;" as her eyes narrowed.

"I'm allowed to gloat when I finally managed to beat her. All I said was that she didn't have to cry over being beaten."

Yoruichi scratched Sora's face in two different directions.

"What the hell?!"

"Was she sexually active before that day?"

In the back of his mind he knew that if Yoruichi knew who Talia was, she wouldn't be asking a question like that. He knew that she wasn't the type of girl that would just sleep around. He figured that was more of Mania's thing; she had always been more like her dad, right down to the blue hair. She was rebellious to her core and always itching for a fight, but seemed clueless at times; a lot like her mother.

"Not that I'm aware of; what does that have to do with anything?"

"Please tell me you're joking…" with a sweat drop, but started to explain seeing how Sora apparently wasn't joking "have you taken anatomy?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Answer the question."

"Yes."

"You understand the physical differences between males and females?"

"What the hell is this a 'the birds and the bees' talk? Yes I understand the differences."

"I want you to think long and hard about everything you learned;" she ordered "then think about how you beat her."

Sora did as the were-cat asked; he remembered everything from his anatomy class and basic health class. He wasn't surprised that most of what he remembered was weak points in the body. As he thought more on the female body, he could feel the blood leave his face when he finally thought he understood.

"Are you… are you saying…" seeing the possible connection "that I…" he really didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Say it" as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Broke…" he gulped "broke her… hymen?"

"Just as dense as your father;" she sighed "that's the way it sounds to me. Where you really messed up was telling her not to cry over getting beaten."

Sora began hitting his head against a nearby tree. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid; Tatsuki had warned against the dangers of sweeping someone's foot away from them after the person threw a high kick. Hell, even Akua and Kahlua had said it was a risky thing to do.

"You should probably go apologize to her;" Yoruichi suggested "in private."

-Kokoa-

The red headed vampire fought the urge to drink more packs of transfusion blood as she lay on her bed. She couldn't figure out why she was feeling like this; so thirsty that she felt like going on a binge. The smell of the leftover blood on the inside of the packs in her trashcan tormented her sense of smell and made it harder to resist. Her body began to ache as she rolled over to face the wall and look somewhere other than the ceiling or towards her mini fridge.

"What's happening to me?" she asked herself.

She began to wish she hadn't knocked Hanataro out when she finally got him back to his room in the infirmary. There was a chance he could know what was going on and help her get through it. She began tugging on her hair; why was her first thought of who to go to for help Hanataro and not her Onee-sama? If anyone would be able to help her it would be Moka, not Hanataro. She had remembered how many transfusion packs Moka had gone through when she had her sudden increase in strength, but didn't know if Moka had the aches she was feeling.

"Fuckin' late-bloomer bull shit" she growled.

One thought raged through her mind; why now of all times? Between the hollow attacks and the people from the future, now was a horrible time for this to be happening. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to fall asleep; with no success. The only thing she did was make the ache that was bothering her a little worse. A groan escaped her as she pulled her blankets over her; she wanted this ache to go away and never come back. It was annoying the living hell out of her. She tossed underneath the blanket and found her mouth was suddenly dry; like she hadn't drunk anything in days dry.

She got out of her bed and pulled the large container of tomato juice from her fridge. After pouring a glass and chugging it, she found it had no effect on quenching her thirst; she soon found herself drinking straight from the container. In no time she had finished the container, but she still found herself needing to drink more. Her breathing became heavy as her eyes wondered to the mini fridge that had her transfusion packs in it. She swallowed a dried gulp and licked her lips as she reached for the handle.

-Talia-

The brown haired girl laid on her bed and continued to stare blankly at the ceiling of her room. Her thoughts had been all over the place for the past couple hours and right now was no different. She had long given up on trying to figure out why Issac would want Tsukune dead; it wasn't like there was a grudge being held… or at least that she was aware of. After the war, Issac had gone to the Twelfth Division for a change of pace from the battle driven Hueco Mundo; he had even dated a couple chicks but nothing ever really developed. Issac knew that if he killed Tsukune, then everything would change; he'd still be in that dessert and, the one thing he never wanted to be, alone.

"Here I am trying to figure it out again;" she sighed.

Her thoughts moved towards more personal memories; possibly her best girl friend, Yuuma. The girl was more like her mother thankfully, but you didn't want to piss her off; she never saw herself above getting bloodied as long as the fight was worth it. They would often tease ease other about who they 'liked'; there were times where she believed her friend had a crush on her brother. Yuuma denied it every time though, saying that the boy she liked was harder to reach; then often retaliating by accusing her of liking Sora. Every time she tried to deny it, Yuuma would always bring up how she'd sneak out of her own house and spend the night with him. Then there was always every time her and her mother got into an argument she'd end up at the Kurosaki residence. He had always been there for her and never really pressed her for the reason she was there…

"Hey, Talia;" she heard Sora ask with a knock on the door "you in there?"

"Just a sec;" she got out of the bed and answered the door "what happened to your face?" seeing the scratches.

"That damn were-cat happened;" he grumbled "may I come in?"

"You should really stop calling her that;" as she let him in "otherwise people might think you're Byakuya's kid."

"With my natural hair color; doubt it;" as he stood next to the bed "there was something I was hoping to talk to you about."

"Shoot" as she closed the door.

"I think I know what happened six months ago that got you pissed at me."

"We're not talking about it;" as she turned away from him with slight anger in her tone.

"Yes we are;" his tone matching hers "I did something risky without thinking and it hurt you in a way I didn't mean to hurt you. I swept your foot in the wrong direction and when you landed…"

"SHUT-UP!" tears threatened to roll down her face "I know damn well what happened. Do you have any idea how fucking badly it hurt me? Do you? The physical pain was bad enough, but you didn't even think to see if there was something wrong other than me 'being a sore loser'. You have no idea how badly that hurt me on the inside. My best friend…" the tears began streaming down her face as she balled up her fists "had pretty much taken something precious and what did you say? 'Don't cry over getting beaten'. You didn't even think to see if it was something else."

"I can't even begin to imagine how you felt;" not sure if he should consider trying to hold his friend "you had every right to explode at me like you did. Now that I know what happened, you probably could've done worse. I am sorry for what I did; if I could change it, I would."

"I want to be left alone;" as she opened the door.

"Okay;" as he left the room "good night."

Talia didn't reply as she closed the door and dead-bolted it shut.

-Morning; infirmary-

Hanataro woke up with a slight throbbing on the side of his head; he went to touch it and winced in pain as it made the throb worse. The last thing he remembered was Kokoa saying 'good night' when they got back into the room. For that brief second he knew he wondered what she had meant, and now he knew. He couldn't believe that she had actually knocked him out like that.

"I guess it's better than what could've happened;" he sighed as he sat up.

It was true, he could've woken up duct-taped to the bed; the list of things that could've happened was long and he knew that none of them would be pleasant. Focusing reiatsu to his hand, he healed the knot on the top of his head. As the throbbing went away he looked at the time and saw that he had 'slept' for a solid sixteen hours. It was now roughly nine in the morning. Through force of habit, he checked the chart that had been sitting at the end of his bed; everything looked normal and he figured now that he was awake he should be freed to leave soon.

His thoughts turned back to what Kokoa did; he understood why she did it. He had snuck out of the infirmary and she really couldn't trust him to stay put after she had dragged him back there. Laying back onto the bed, he wished he could remember what exactly had happened after he saved her; he had lost so much blood in so little time he went into shock and blacked out. He hadn't been hooked up to a transfusion pack so that told him someone had given him some of the blood replenishing pills from his medical bag. There weren't many ways for someone to be given the pills if the patient had passed out; his taichou had often ground one up and added it to an IV drip if the person was already in their headquarters.

"I'm probably thinking too much into it;" as he thought of the other ways he pills could be given.

-Lunch-

Everyone with the exception of Soifon, Grimmjow, Kokoa, Ichigo, and Talia sat around the table. Ichigo had been with them, but his badge started going of informing him of a hollow in the area and had to take off to deal with it. Yachiru picked at the food on her plate as they talked about various things.

"Hey everyone;" they heard Hanataro say as he walked up "don't worry, they actually released me this time" he showed them his paperwork.

"That's good Yamada-kun;" Orihime said with a smile.

"Now you won't have to worry about Kokoa" Kurumu chuckled.

"Strawberry-chan wasn't in any of her classes today;" Yachiru said in a sad tone "she usually does something funny to Tsuki."

"What?" Moka asked in surprise.

"Well, our first day here she kicked him into the chalkboard in our homeroom class. The day after that she…"

"Not that. She wasn't in any of her classes?"

"Nope."

"That's weird" as she tapped her chin "I'm gonna go see if she's alright."

With that the silver haired vampire got up from the table and went to her sister's room. It wasn't like her to miss class; no matter how much she may complain about them, she always went. Something had to be seriously wrong for her to miss class. After some strong words with the coordinator she managed to be let into her sister's room; what she saw caused her eyes to go wide in initial shock, then fear of what it could've meant. The bed had been flipped, her backpack torn to shreds, and her desk broken into eight pieces. Then there were the transfusion packs that had been ripped open and just thrown randomly in the room, even the ones in the biohazard trash bin had been ripped open. It was almost like a scene from a horror movie, and it scared the hell out of her. She stepped away from the open door and back into the hall until her back was pressed against the wall. The sudden contacted snapped her out of the horror and she took off running back to the lunch table her friends were at.

It looked like there had been a small fight in her sister's room, but who could even get into a locked room? There were a couple species of Yokai that could do it, but none of them would have touched the blood packets. Fear for her sister's safety filled her as she tried to pick up the pace and get back to her friends.

"I'm used to seeing you taller;" Sora had finished saying to Hanataro as she arrive.

"Kokoa…" she panted "her room was… a complete mess. Transfusion packs everywhere, her bed flipped, desk destroyed. She wasn't there; I…"

For the first time, Moka felt an alien fear throughout her entire body. What made it worse was that ever since the barrier nearly fell last year, now they had Hollows to deal with; and after what she had learned from Zangetsu, she wasn't sure if Kokoa was going to be safe on her own. If her red headed sister would end up running into a Hollow about to turn into a Gillian, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold her own.

"False alarm" Ichigo said as he walked back up to the table "I'm gonna have Hat-n-Clogs…" seeing the look on everyone's faces "what's wrong?"

"Shuzen-san is missing;" Hanataro answered.

"Could she just have ditched class to train?"

"She wouldn't do that" Moka said the fear she felt obvious in her voice.

"Orihime, watch my body;" Ichigo said as he used his Substitute Shinigami Badge on himself "I'll see if I can find her anywhere."

Ichigo shunpo off and quickly went all over campus but couldn't find a trace of the smaller vampire. After doubling back towards the dorm, he realized he had stepped in something wet; it had stained his sock with a near black splotch. He rubbed his fingers against the stain and discovered it was pretty fresh, so he had to have stepped in it recently. He backtracked using shunpo at a slower pace in the off chance that Kokoa would've been there. When he got to where he guessed he stepped in it, he saw gashes in the ground that looked to have been from a Hollow claw of some sort and a couple small craters in the ground. There had been a decent fight here, but he didn't see any signs of the smaller vampire.

There were some blackish blood puddles that looked smeared every few feet. At one spot there was a larger puddle of blood than the others; when he examined it he found there was a puncture in ground about the size of the tip of a sword. This got him to thinking that there was nothing wrong with his badge; it had been right, but someone else had been in that right place at the right time and took care of it. He got a feel of the reiatsu in the area and one had definitely been a hollow, but the other one was different that anything he had felt before. His eyes scanned the area in case whoever the reiatsu belonged to was still here, only to see nothing but dead/dying trees and brush. Ichigo swore quietly as he decided to head back to Moka and see if he could find something that had Kokoa's reiatsu on it.

-Junya-

The 'vampire' took a small jump backwards to avoid getting bit by the large Hollow he and John had captured. They had managed to capture the beast by using himself as bait and flaring his youki a bit. John had used some sort of sedative once they had it where they wanted it. For some reason there were now pieces of the creature's flesh missing; little bits here, a decent chunk there, and several spots where cuts had been made to get the thing's blood. Every time he looked at it he felt a ping of guilt; where as John seemed cold and distant from the matter.

"Why are you so jumpy?" John asked as he grabbed it by the throat "it's chained up and can't reach you. I swear, if an actual vampire were to see you they'd kill you for being such an insult."

He twisted the large creature's head to the side and took a knife to the flesh of its neck. As the creature bled, he grabbed a bowl and let the crimson fluid fill it. Years of isolation and fighting, and everyone wondered why he was so 'cold'. He knew things had to happen; spent three years digging up everything he could on everyone's past. He swore to help his friend for taking him in, helping him get what he wanted, and then he was gone; one stab through the chest later, he was pretty much alone again. The thing that made it worse was that he knew all this would happen.

"I suggest you stop being such a weak coward and do your part;" as he gave the blood filled bowl to Inui "I'm sick of doing what you can't. Already. Judging by how the subject has reacted, it's a safe assumption that ingesting Hollow blood will dramatically increase your physical strength. I haven't seen any signs of Hollow powers manifesting yet though. Perhaps if more were to be consumed" as he rubbed his chin "it was just a small dose though. Maybe once she takes straight from the source some sort of Hollow powers will develop. I should be writing this down" his eyes started looking for pin and paper.

Inui looked at the bowl of blood and began to wonder what he was doing.

"Don't even think about growing a conscious now;" John warned "I know you were planning on coning Moka last year, but after everything that happened you backed out. We go through with this and we will find a way to make your species stronger. No more pretending to be something you're not."

"Won't drinking this do the same thing to me?"

"Doubtful;" as he sat in a chair and picked up his book "you're not a vampire. Best I can figure at the moment, the Hollow blood is forcing her to act on her most basic instincts and since she had no clue what was going on she couldn't resist it. The act so sophisticated but you add just a drop of certain blood to their cocktails and they become primitive yet again. Must be like the things *Eve killed in the stories; trial and error for her, expected results for us."

Junya subconsciously gulped before he drank from the bowl. He wanted to see his species stand on their own without having to blend into other species just to survive; his kind wasn't like the yuki-ona or the succubae where the children born would be of their species regardless of the father. For his species to be able to rival the power of vampires and werewolves, it would finally put his species as a whole on top. And that was worth the risk to him.

John watched with a smirk. He had been in that same situation once; wanting nothing more than to make his species stronger as a whole, to be able to rival vampires and werewolves. While he never saw that happen, he got everything else he wanted; mainly revenge. She seemed so surprised when it finally happened. It had played out exactly as planned, and only took three years.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Uryu squeezed his eye shut; he had been going through book after book on Quincy. Each one had pieces of history that he had heard as rumor before, and while they now had merit to them, it wasn't what he was looking for. Day three was coming up, he had read through eight different books on Quincy, and he hadn't found anything that would suggest why the witch had slapped him. On a whim, he went towards the small coffee shop that was in the library's main section.

"Still haven't found what you're looking for Ishida-san?" the employee asked.

"Not yet," he sighed "only history on battles. Nothing about the origins."

"I guess it's a good thing a fresh pot just finished; you've been in here for two full days now;" as she finished making his drink "you've gotten the same drink each time you've been here. Employees talk about cute customers."

"Uh… thank you?" not sure what to make of the complement "I'm not looking to date anyone though."

"You're not _that_ cute;" she giggled "I already have a boyfriend too. If you'd tell me what exactly you're looking for maybe I can help point you in the right direction."

"I would have to tell you what I am;" as he carefully took the coffee from her "and from what I understand that's against the rules on campus."

"Let's see if I can figure it out on my own;" she sniffed the air deeply "you smell human, but you're at Yokai Academy so you can't be completely human. A boarder-being then; perhaps a warlock?"

Those words caused the Quincy to let go of his coffee. When it fell, the edge of the bottom hit the counter of the coffee stand and the hot liquid ended up pouring onto his stomach and crouch. The heat from the coffee caused a sudden immense pain and he reacted as any guy would; he screamed in pain as he fought falling to the ground by grabbing the stand and bracing himself.

"I've been looking in the wrong place;" as he grabbed napkins and cleaned himself off.

"Do I need to call for the infirmary?" she asked in a panicked tone.

"No, could you call for Inoue Orihime though;" he asked "I think she's in the lunch room right now. This one is going to be hard to explain if Kurosaki shows up too."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

*I'm making a reverence to the show Supernatural. In it, the mother of all monsters was named Eve.


	43. Chapter 43

"Will Inoue Orihime please come to the library;" the intercom said loudly in the lunch room "again, would Inoue Orihime please come to the library."

"I wonder what happened;" Orihime said as she started to get up.

"You're not going on your own;" Rangiku said as she put her hand on her friend's shoulder "let's wait for Ichigo to get back before we head out."

Orihime gave a small pout as she sat down; she knew that Uryu had been in the library for the past couple days pretty much non-stop. The fact that she was being asked to come to the library had her worried about her friend. Something had to have happened for her to be called to the library; Uryu had his Quincy cross taken from him and was pretty much defenseless if something happened.

"I didn't find her;" Ichigo said as he appeared "but there was something that looked like a small battleground. What kind of weapon does your sister usually make her bat thing turn into?"

"A Morningstar;" Moka answered as she became visibly worried.

"Then she was probably there. I only saw this black blood, at least I think it's blood;" as he showed the stain on his sock "no normal blood. I think she's unharmed at the least."

While that might have been good to hear, she couldn't believe it until they found her. Just because there was no blood where Ichigo looked didn't mean that Kokoa wasn't hurt during that fight. Something could've happened; a bone broken, internal injuries, a concussion, the list could go on. They needed to find Kokoa as soon as possible.

"Orihime was called to the library," Rangiku said as she got up "we'll keep our eyes open and keep our senses open. If we're lucky we might be able to find a reiatsu trail to follow."

"Thank you" Moka said.

-Head Master-

The Head Master rested his chin on his hands as his jaw tightened. Whoever this person from the future was, he knew how to hide; that thought troubled him. If this person could hide from his usual means of tracking people, what else did this person know? There weren't many options left; that wasn't a good thing at all. The one reliable thing that he had left was dangerous for even him. His eyes gleamed over to his crystal ball; knowing the future had always been a dangerous thing, even for him. True, he would occasionally look into the future on certain matters; this was different though. One wrong slip of the tongue about what he sees and everything changes, and he could see every possible ending for something he looked into. Such knowledge, and simple mistakes, could destroy many things.

"**I pray this doesn't backfire;"** as he grabbed his crystal ball and set it in front of him.

-Library-

Orihime recalled her fairies to her hair pin and helped Uryu up. Rangiku had to stifle a giggle when they first saw the state of her friend; sitting in a chair with an ice pack on his groin. The employee had been very worried about him the entire time the busty healer was tending to the Quincy. She had said she accused him of being a warlock and that caused him to drop his coffee and mumble something about looking in the wrong place.

"Not a word of this to Kurosaki, please;" Uryu asked his friend.

After a nod of agreement from both Orihime and Rangiku, he went back to the help desk.

"I would like everything you have on Witches and Warlocks that crosses with Quincy history" he said as he showed the man the pass the Head Master had given him.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired teen rested his head against the wall of the cell; he had a feeling in his gut that he was absent for something important back at Yokai Academy. It wasn't something he could just explain, it was just… one of those feelings. A sad sigh escaped him; he wanted to train, be at Yokai Academy with his friends, somewhere other than in the cell he was locked in. But he was stuck sitting in his cell for another day before he was going to his trial at Central Forty Six. His talk with the sou-taichou the day before went surprisingly well. Some of the things he had mentioned seemed to catch the old shinigami off guard completely; like when he told him what the Tres had said to him when she first started to fight him.

'_Your presence in the yuki-ona village did little to hinder our plans'_ her voice echoed in his head.

That thought troubled him. Where else had that organization gotten into, and what was their end game? Too many questions about who this organization was and what they wanted were floating around in his head to know where to start. One thing about it troubled him more though, they managed to get someone into the barrier around the academy without the Head Master noticing; that suggested they are very knowledgeable about barriers, spells, and possibly even knows the Head Master himself.

'_One thing at a time Tsukune-kun;'_ Bloodriver said to him _'you need to focus on being able to return to Yokai Academy first.'_

'_You weren't sealed away Akasha-chan;'_ he said with joy _'I was worried these walls would keep us from being able to talk.'_

'_The stone the walls and bars are made of prevents you from using reiatsu based attacks and abilities; it can't keep you from your zanpakuto. If you try hard enough, you might even be able to come to your inner world still.'_

Tsukune sat crossed legged and closed his eyes; he could feel the resistance created by the stone Akasha had mentioned as he tried to enter his inner world. He took a deep breath and could feel something blowing against his cheeks. When he opened his eyes he could see Yokai Academy; his inner world. He got up off the ground and started looking for his partner. He was surprised when he didn't find her in her usual spots; the gymnasium, library, or the courtyard where she had set up a small table to have tea at.

Taking a chance, he decided to head towards the pool; which would be strange if she was actually there considering she was a vampire. He went to use sonido to get there quicker, but found that the seal Yamamoto had put on him still had affect while in his inner world. With a small sigh, he started walking towards the pool. As he walked, he noticed how surprising accurate his inner world was when he compared it to the real Yokai Academy. There was even the small dog house looking thing the Head Master had for his pet… whatever it was.

A small smile found its way to his face when he thought about how much he had learned since coming to Yokai Academy last year. The truth about vampires, succubae, yuki-ona, and witches; most of what he knew about werewolves before coming had turned out to be true. He knew he needed to learn more about his friends' species, but that was fine; it gave them something to talk about, not that there was ever really a dull moment.

As he approached the pool he could see Akasha laid out on a reclining pool chair; her hair tied back in a ponytail. Getting closer he could see that she wasn't wearing her usual dress; instead she was wearing a white two piece that had frill along the top edges of both pieces. He could swear he had seen the swim suit before somewhere, but couldn't remember where.

"Sorry," she said when she realized how close he was "I should have told you where I was."

"It's alright, I needed to stretch my legs anyway;" as he sat next to her "what happened to your dress?"

"It's on a hanger in the changing room;" her eyes locked on the clear skies "it has been like this for a few days now. I couldn't just pass up the chance to work on a tan."

"Where'd you get the swim suit though? Everywhere I've looked before was completely empty."

"Once you regained your memories many of the shops filled with clothing, the library began to have more and more books in it; even the cafeteria has food."

"That's cool" with a smile "it gives you something to do when we aren't talking or training."

"Yes;" looking to her wielder "I hope you forgive me, but I looked at your memories. It helped me pick out this swim suit."

"It's alright;" with a small laugh "I figured I had seen it somewhere."

"Many guys would have done anything to have traded to be where you were. Well;" thinking about it "I guess you are still there. What was it you were called by the jealous; Harem God?"

"Wha… what?" shocked at the title "why would they call me that?"

"I'm not surprised;" she giggled "it's a recent nickname, but it's directed towards you. When you were alive you were unusually close friends with a vampire, a species that isn't known for mingling outside of their own, a succubus, the incarnation of lust and said to be the ultimate lovers, a yuki-ona, mistresses of the snow who have a radiant beauty like fresh fallen snow, and two witches, a species that is very spiritual. There's also the fact that when you were alive you never really fought; your friends always fought for you. This could've led many to believe you were an extremely powerful Yokai; which made sense considering in the Yokai world those with power can have as many lovers as they wish.

Add to that when you were 'Kenpachi Eiyu' you were good friends with Matsumoto-san, who was posing as a succubus, Yachiru, posing as a fairy which is a rare species to encounter, and Soifon-taichou, posing as a Yasha. Also, Jagerjaquez-san was posing as a panther demon that was also your 'master'. True demons are not easily befriended; they're more likely to write off anyone trying to make friends with them because having that sort of friend can take one places. Having him pose as your master caused many to believe you were extremely powerful; even more so after you faced Kuyo."

"This is going to cause problems again" with a worried look on his face.

"Not likely;" she assured him "last year you never fought, which is why many singled you out. Now that you have been in a number of battles, everyone knows your strength and will most likely leave you alone. If anything the 'Harem God' title will take greater hold now; few living know the workings of the Seireitei and shinigami so it's possible they will think you've been one all along. Have you been thinking about how you and Soifon should progress with your relationship?"

Tsukune looked to the ground; he hadn't really thought about it with everything that had been going on recently. Last night he had a vivid dream again, but it didn't hide anything from him like in the past. Their night together when he went to train with the Visoreds had been amazing. He could now say he knows her in just about every way; taichou, person, and lover. It wasn't the sex he missed though, it was her.

"I miss her right now, but I know that there's at least a chance of seeing her again;" looking back to his zanpakuto spirit "I really want to try that kind of relationship with her, but right now I'm not sure how it would work out. She's a taichou, and I'm… a rogue I guess. I don't know if she'd be ok with everyone knowing we're in a relationship, and I think she's gotten jealous about everyone;" referring to his 'harem' "if she wants to keep it secret, I don't know how they'd take it if they found out about us. Kurumu-chan could die of a broken heart, Mizore-chan could become even more reserved than she already is and slip into depression, and I'd never forgive myself if that happened."

"What about Moka-chan, Yukari-chan and Ruby-chan?"

"Ruby-chan would probably handle it the best;" sadness formed in his eyes "Yukari-chan, she's been more like a little sister to me; she'd probably still try to make me and Moka-chan work out though. Moka-chan… I'm not sure how she'd take it. After having no memories for three weeks with only flashes of it coming back, I don't think I can have those same feelings for her again. I know it doesn't seem right, but I need to be honest about it."

"I understand. Now that you know a little about vampire culture it's natural;" looking to the sky again "by drinking your blood by biting your neck without permission… she was insulting you. While I'm sure she didn't know it at the time, it's still concerning; and you have every right to be upset, angry even, about it."

"Even after what Ghoul had done to her, she still wants to be around me. To be my friend even though she knew that there was a chance of Ghoul taking over."

"And now that you have defeated Ghoul?"

"She's my friend, and I don't want to lose her."

While Akasha was saddened by Tsukune's confession of not holding the same feelings for her daughter as last year, she was glad he still wanted to be her friend.

-Hanataro-

The seventh seat looked around the courtyard of the campus for the red head vampire. He was trying to find any presence of her reiatsu since he knew exactly what it felt like by treating her injuries. Saying he was worried would be a slight understatement; he wasn't terrified like her sister was, but he had great concern. She may have been mean at first, but she was actually pretty nice once you got to know her. So far he hadn't found anything; nothing physical or her reiatsu. None of the people that usually saw her around had any idea where she could've been.

Eventually he found himself at the place Ichigo had mentioned and he could feel that it had been Kokoa that fought here. There was something wrong though, her reiatsu felt different than it had in the past; almost like it were turning more Hollow like. He shook his head; that was a silly thought. She had been fighting a Hollow so of course he'd feel a good bit of Hollow reiatsu in the air.

"Perhaps I can recreate the fight;" he thought out loud as he opened his senses and walked around.

This had been something he was able to do for a while; he could tell exactly which injuries happened when in a fight and could put together a rough image of it in his head. When he told his taichou about it she encouraged him to improve it as it was invaluable. He walked around until he found the spot where the Hollow's reiatsu had been at its lowest. He focused a little harder and tried to figure out which way it had been facing; he turned a little to his left and felt the initial spike in its reiatsu.

"So it was facing this way;" as he walked in the direction and kept his senses open "then Shuzen-san had to have been… here" feeling her reiatsu.

He took a step forward and could feel that she had jumped into the air, so he did the same. When he landed, he could see a small crater just in front of him; she had used her Morningstar to try to hit the Hollow. He took the position of the hollow again and felt that it had done a quick side step to avoid getting hit, hence the crater; there was another spike in reiatsu suggesting it had taken an angry swing at Kokoa. The absence of red blood meant that she was able to block it in time; he noticed small skid marks that looked to be no wider than a person's foot. Taking Kokoa's place again, he carefully slid his feet through the skid marks until they stopped; he felt her reiatsu go up and backwards at an angle.

Kokoa had jumped backwards to avoid getting slashed, causing the Hollow to cut into the ground with its claws. Her feet dug into the ground as she took advantage of the opening and threw herself towards it. The Morningstar collided with the Hollow and it rolled on the ground as the small vampire continued her assault on it. The masked creature used its head to knock the red head back where she had come from before using its left arm to knock her to the ground. Instead of being knocked to the ground like normal, she landed on her feet and blocked he next attack with her Bake-bake bat. She forced the Hollow away and retaliated by swinging her Morningstar at the creature; the attack had landed, and possibly broke its arm.

The Hollow got even angrier and used its one good arm to slash downwards but missed its mark as she jumped backwards. It kept coming at her using its one arm, gradually backing her up. Kokoa kept herself from being put against a tree by swinging her Morningstar upwards and catching the Hollow just under the mask, knocking it backwards a good distance. It landed on its back and as it rolled over, it was hit again with the Morningstar; after that it had been pinned to the ground somehow. It had clawed at the ground trying to find a way to escape but it couldn't.

Hanataro's eyes widened at what he felt next; Kokoa had gotten close to the masked creature and stayed there for a minute before getting back up, pulling the thing she had pinned it down with out of its back, and slaying it. She had been at the Hollow's throat for almost a minute; that could only mean one thing. She had drank from it. He started running towards the dorms; he had to figure something out.

-Kokoa's room-

"So Akashiya-san asked you to take a look in Shuzen-san's room?" the coordinator asked.

"Yes ma'am;" he lied "she thinks there was a small fight and wanted me to take a look."

"There was a noise complaint last night;" thinking about it as she unlocked the door "I have paperwork to fill out. Don't get any ideas while you're in here" she warned before she left.

Hanataro nodded as he entered the room. It was just as Moka had described; it looked like a small fight had happened. It left the question as to who it could've been she fought. He opened up his senses again and felt that there had been no one other than Kokoa and her Bake-bake bat in the room last night. After walking around the room, he felt that she spent a good amount of time laying in her bed; after that she went over to her fridge. An empty container of tomato juice sat on the counter next to a plastic cup. He followed her reiatsu over to her mini-fridge; he opened it and discovered it was empty.

He opened up his pack and pulled out a pair of medical gloves as he looked at a transfusion pack that had some blood left on it. After running his protected fingers through the crimson fluid, he focused reiatsu into his hand and began to analyze the blood. For the most part it was completely normal, human transfusion blood; there was something different about it though. It was small and someone other than a medic or Kurotsuchi would write it off completely. Focusing more reiatsu into the kido spell, he found what he had noticed; his eyes widened in fear of what it could mean before busting out of the room as fast as he could to find Ichigo, Moka, someone.

-Junya-

The 'vampire' gulped down another helping of Hollow blood as he left the underground room he and John had the Hollow chained up at. Ironic that they'd use the same building that the Outcasts had used last year for this. Targeting who they were targeting, it made a little sense; why would they look somewhere that had bad memories affiliated with it? Many of the modifications the Outcasts had put in had been removed after they were defeated by order of the Head Master.

"Inui-san;" he heard.

"Akashiya-san," turning to see her "what's wrong?"

Moka looked like she had been running around for a while; her hair was a mess, she had a couple beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and was breathing a little heavier than usual.

"My sister's missing;" she explained "we can't find her anywhere. I would be thankful if you'd help us look for her."

"Of course;" with a smile "we may butt heads more often than not, but our species has always looked after each other."

-Head Master-

The hooded man lowered his head in grief; every possible outcome and there was only one that had the best positive end result. The danger of breathing even a word to anyone… he knew where the man from the future was, but he was also shown the events this man was linked to; every event he could be linked to. A tear rolled down his face; this was the price of looking into the future. Knowing every possible outcome and having to make the impossible decision.

"**How can you do it;"** he asked as he looked to the ceiling **"know how everything could possibly play out and be so distant on the matter? I guess that's why you're up there; I've walked on this earth for three millennia and seen many things. The rise and fall of empires, the creation of religions and their fall, and much more and as a result I know what true attachment means. And…"** looking down to his desk **"it makes this decision even harder. I hope they can forgive me."**

-Hanataro and Soifon-

The taichou and seventh seat stood in Yachiru's room waiting for the sou-taichou to activate his end. Hanataro wasn't like having to wait like this; it was an urgent matter and he needed answers as soon as possible. He couldn't understand how the taichou of the Second Division was able to stand so calmly as she waited. She knew how important this was but seemed like it was just any other minor problem that happens during a day. The screen came to life with the image of the sou-taichou.

"What is the urgent matter you needed to report to me?" he asked.

"Sir," Soifon began "Seventh Seat Yamada Hanataro has discovered that one of the locals may have been poisoned recently."

"Poisoned with what?" the old man asked as his eyes cracked open.

"Hollow blood;" Hanataro answered without giving Soifon a chance "someone had injected her transfusion packs with trace amounts of it. I believe it is having some sort of affect on her and we can't locate her. I would like to request access to the sealed documents on the Hollow blood experiment that Kurotsuchi-taichou and Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou filed twenty three years ago."

"You were one of the ones that helped Unohana-taichou examine the bodies, weren't you?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well. Your request is granted, Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou will deliver the reports to you and you alone within the hour;" as he stroked his beard "what is the name of the victim?"

"Thank you sir; her name is Shuzen Kokoa" Hanataro replied.

"I advise you be quick in resolving this matter Seventh Seat Yamada," his eyes opened a little more "her father more than likely won't bother to show up to help her."

"Understood sir."

The screen went blank and Soifon looked at the seventh seat.

"I'm sorry for being out of line; I spoke out of turn and…"

"At the moment you have better intel than me on the matter;" Soifon cut him off "as a medic, you are also allowed certain privileges that not even Onmitsukido have access to. Private medical records, personal history, and more. Your words held more credibility than mine right now."

Hanataro was surprised at the taichou's understanding; he was worried she'd have him punished by his taichou for his actions. A rumor had been floating around that she was seeing someone now and that could explain the change in her; but he doubted that she was seeing someone.

-One hour later-

Nemu handed Hanataro the large file that had everything on the Hollow blood experiment. She remembered that experiment like she remembered every experiment; her father had done horrible things that day and after seventeen failures he stopped the experiment and calling it a 'waste of time'.

"Thank you;" Hanataro said with a small bow.

"Mayuri-sama requests repayment for taking him from his work to dig up the file;" Nemu said in her usual monotone.

"I understand, please tell him thank you for the file and I will find a way to repay him."

"I will pass the message;" as she opened a Senkaimon and stepped in "I hope this ends better than in the past."

Hanataro looked at the sealed file and hoped so too; there was a chance that he could find a way to save her now. He took off to the room the Head Master had given him. This file was now an 'Eye's Only' file and he was the only one that had permission to look in it. He didn't like not being able to use shunpo and hadn't had much luck in learning it.

"One more thing;" he promised as he added it to his list of how to get better overall.

When he got to his room, he locked his door and dead-bolted it as he turned on his light. He set the file on the desk and closed the shades to keep anyone from just looking in and seeing what he was doing. This was something that should never be done again and he didn't want to risk anyone trying it. As he opened the file, he remembered how deformed Mayuri's test subjects had been at the end of the experiment; occasionally the images would haunt his nightmares. He quickly flipped to the summary of each time the experiment had been attempted. His jaw tightened up when he read the summaries.

'_Subjects showed complete incapability with the injects given. Subject seventeen showed potential capability but failed to resist the mental trauma'_ the sick Twelfth Division taichou's voice said in his head.

He skipped to the next page.

'_The most peculiar thing learned from this experiment was that the subjects' reiatsu began to feel more Hollow like as opposed to their usual state.'_

It had been like he felt when he came to the small battlefield; Kokoa's reiatsu was feeling more Hollow like. He remembered one thing from the experiment that he discovered while helping his taichou; every one of the test subjects had been human souls that were shinigami. Kokoa was a living vampire; vampire's naturally needed blood to survive and, just like any other species, their metabolisms varied. That meant that Kokoa could naturally cycle off of the Hollow blood and this gave him hope that he could do something this time.

He quickly hid the file in the bookshelf that was in his room; he knew how to find Kokoa now and needed to get to his friends so he could have help. Trying to explain how he knows what he knows was going to be hard; more so considering how worried Moka was about her sister. She could very likely turn violent when he tries to tell her he can't explain how, or why, he knows things. As he ran, he bumped into Sora.

"Hey Hanataro," he said casually "any luck finding Kokoa?"

"No, but I know how to find her;" as he caught his breath "I need to talk to everyone."

Sora nodded and they headed to where he agreed to meet Ichigo and the others. As they got closer, Hanataro seemed to become gradually distracted by something; Sora could feel something wasn't right himself, but couldn't figure out what. When they came into view of the group, they saw Yukari and Ruby were still missing but a new person standing in the group. Hanataro seemed to zero in on the person with his eyes.

"Can you distract him long enough for me to get close?" he asked Sora.

"Yea, but can I ask why?"

"Please, just trust me."

Sora nodded and they recomposed themselves as they got closer to the group. He remembered Hanataro well enough to know that he could be trusted on a great number of things; the future of Hanataro was going to be an amazing one compared to his past.

"So who's this?" Sora asked pointing at the new person.

"Inui Junya;" Moka answered "he's a vampire and he wants to help."

"We look after our own kind regardless of how often we butt heads;" Inui said as he held out his hand "so you're the boy from the future?"

"Yea;" as he walked pass him "as much as I hate to admit it, I really don't seem to get along with vampires very well. Many of them have a way of mouthing off and saying the wrong things to me. I've only met a couple that I actually get along with."

"Sorry to hear that;" as he put his hand down.

"Is that cross your limiter?"

"Yes."

"Wow;" with a smile before his eyes narrowed "I've never heard a bigger load of bull shit."

This caught everyone completely off guard; Sora had seemed to be acting more like Talia at the moment. To Ichigo though, Sora seemed to be acting more like Hichigo; his stance had changed, his eyes seemed to hold more darkness to them, and even his tone was different.

"How dare you" Inui said with anger in his voice.

"Ishida-san;" Sora asked "have you found what you were looking for in the library?"

"For the most part;" as he adjusted his glasses.

"Ok, now let me introduce myself to you 'vampire';" using air quotes when he said vampire "I am Kurosaki Sora, son of Kurosaki Ichigo. I am naturally Hollow, Shinigami, and Quincy; for those of you who didn't know yet, Quincy are descendants of witches and warlocks. I've dabbled a little in magic and I know when something is enchanted. And that cross of yours" as he pointed at him "isn't enchanted. It's a cheap store bought necklace that can be picked up anywhere. A true limiter is hand crafted, specifically designed for the one that will wear it. If you expect me to believe that that piece of shit is a limiter, then your entire family must be weak and insignificant."

Junya threw a punch at Sora, who blocked the attack by crossing his arms in front of his chest, and sent him crashing through a wall.

"Shinigami or not;" Junya snarled "don't you dare talk about my family like that you mixed breed…"

Junya stopped his rant when he felt a hand on his back and a strange sensation pulsing through him; he looked back and saw Hanataro with a dark look on his face. Hanataro could feel the Hollow like reiatsu developing deep within this person.

"Why did you do this to yourself?" Hanataro asked darkly surprising everyone.

"For power; why else?" he answered.

"I might be more durable that most people," Sora said as he walked back through the wall "but even so. A real vampire would've broken my forearms with that hit; like I said, 'most vampires have a way with saying the wrong things around me'. I've been in a fight with a couple different ones."

"Did you use her as an experiment first?" Hanataro asked as he sent a paralyzing pulse through Junya's body.

The imposter vampire fell to the ground and found he couldn't move.

"What did you do?"

"Kaido, or healing kido, requires the user to have extensive knowledge of the body; while I treated people in the infirmary I noticed that when Yokai are in their human forms their insides are also close to that of a human's. I might not know the subtle differences just yet, but the principle of Kaido remains the same; it just takes longer because of those subtle differences. I tricked your nerves into thinking they couldn't accept voluntary motion signals from the brain; something Kurotsuchi-fuku-taichou helped me understand after the Winter War. Now answer my question."

"As if I'd drink Hollow blood without knowing what it could do;" Junya answered as he got back up.

Everyone's eyes shook because of what they had just heard; he had drank Hollow blood. Hanataro's clinched his jaw tighter, the affects of the blood were beginning to take hold; Inui was most likely a lost cause now.

"You poisoned her; you have no idea what you've done to yourself" his hands were now balled up into fists and shaking "what you've done to her! The difference though, she has a good chance of being saved from it because she's a vampire; you don't."

Before Junya could respond, he was kicked on the side of the face with enough force to break his cheek bone and sent him flying across the field they stood on and through several trees. Everyone saw Moka standing in a pose showing she had thrown the kick and had a face that showed nothing but rage.

"YOU USED MY SISTER IN A SICK EXPERIMENT FOR POWER?!" she shouted as youki flared wildly and seemed to take the shape of bats swarming around her "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Junya stood up and spat blood from his mouth; he was amazed at his new strength. He had just taken an all-out hit from an S-rank vampire with only a broken cheek bone, and he could feel the bone healing! John had told him about the healing abilities of a Hollow, but didn't think that the ability would manifest just yet.

"Marvelous;" he laughed "let's see how these new abilities stack up against a rare vampire like you. But just to make sure no one interferes" he pulled a small capsule from his pocket.

"NO!" Uryu shouted.

But it was too late; Junya had broken the Hollow Bait in his hands. In a matter of seconds, dozens of Garganta were ripped open and Hollows began rushing out.

…Shinigami Cup: Golden…

Akua sat outside of Tsukune's cell and looked at him; he had been sitting in a meditative position for the past thirty minutes, probably since before she had gotten there. An annoyed tick mark showed up on her forehead. She had to fill out one of those stupid request forms for everyday she wanted to visit and the guards outside were on alert the entire time; not that she blamed them. With what Tsukune was capable of, she was surprised there wasn't a taichou or fuku-taichou stationed to the post. They really underestimated what he was capable of; something told her the taichou she had fought didn't.

"Still waiting for him to wake up?" Rukia asked as she walked into the room.

"He's not sleeping;" as her eyes narrowed on the boy "his breathing is too steady and simple. He's meditating."

"We can always come back when he stops meditating;" the shinigami suggested.

"I hate waiting;" with her cheeks puffed in annoyance "can you have the guard open the door?"

"Why?"

"I'm gonna bust him out of here;" she answered sarcastically "I'm gonna force him out of meditation, of course."

After five minutes of Rukia refusing, and Akua practically twisting her arm, the shinigami caved in and had the guard open the door; both Rukia and the guard were ready if either of them tried anything. But were thrown off when the vampire girl started poking the prisoner's face. A tick mark appeared on her forehead as she tried poking him harder, but it failed to have any affect. Akua started to walk back towards the door, but jumped back towards Aono and shouted, hoping to scare him; it failed too.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" she shouted directly into his ear.

Nothing.

"Wake up damn it" through a megaphone as she started poking him again in an angry/playful manner.

Nothing.

"Arrancar are attacking the Seireitei!" she lied in a shout into his ear.

Nothing.

"What the hell will it take you snap you out of this damn meditation?" she asked herself as she leaned close to Tsukune's face.

She could try getting a bucket of water to splash on him, but she didn't have any herbs to neutralize its effects on her in case she spilt some on her. She could smack him until he came to, but she didn't want to actually hurt him. The list of things she could try was growing shorter and shorter with each idea she could come up with. Her eye twitched as she tried to think of _something_ that would work but couldn't come up with anything practical. The more she thought, the closer she got to Tsukune; until Tsukune opened his eyes to see powerful red ones peering at him.

"GAH!" both Tsukune and Akua shouted as they fell away from each other.

"I told you we should've come back later" Rukia laughed as the two tried to get their hearts to go back to their usual rhythm.


	44. Chapter 44

"YOU USED MY SISTER IN A SICK EXPERIMENT FOR POWER?!" she shouted as youki flared wildly and seemed to take the shape of bats swarming around her "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Junya stood up and spat blood from his mouth; he was amazed at his new strength. He had just taken an all-out hit from an S-rank vampire with only a broken cheek bone, and he could feel the bone healing! John had told him about the healing abilities of a Hollow, but didn't think that the ability would manifest just yet.

"Marvelous;" he laughed "let's see how these new abilities stack up against a rare vampire like you. But just to make sure no one interferes" he pulled a small capsule from his pocket.

"NO!" Uryu shouted.

But it was too late; Junya had broken the Hollow Bait in his hands. In a matter of seconds, dozens of Garganta were ripped open and Hollows began rushing out. Moka ignored the roars that echoed across the campus as she charged towards Inui; unadulterated fury was all that could be seen in her eyes as she closed in on the imposter vampire.

"I'd like to go three days without having to deal with a Hollow attack;" Ichigo said as he ditched his body and went to protect the campus.

"Split up;" Soifon ordered "pick a building and protect it."

"Fuck;" Grimmjow said as he tightened his jaw "there's something different about that Hollow bait. It's…" as he backed away from the group "messing with me somehow."

Hanataro rushed over to the Arrancar and used Kaido on him. In a matter of seconds, the seventh seat had found a way to keep the former Espada from going crazy; he had to cause his lungs to fill with a little fluid to keep the particles from being absorbed into his system through the lungs.

"You're going to have a bad cough and be short of breath for a while" he warned the Arrancar.

"Thanks;" Grimmjow said "I got the infirmary" before he vanished with sonido.

Everyone but Uryu and Hanataro had called a building and taken off; the two just watched as Moka went to kick Inui's head, but he ducked. As Moka landed and was about to follow up, the imposter vampire landed a punch on her shoulder and knocked her into a tree. Inui took advantage of the new opening and fired off a Bala which nailed her in the gut and sent her through the tree she was against. Uryu took a step towards the combatants.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Moka snapped at him as she got up and attacked Junya again.

This time her kick landed solidly against her opponent's side and broke a number of ribs before sending him crashing through a ruined wall. Uryu watched with shaking eyes as the silver haired vampire continued her assault on the fake vampire. Dust flew into the air as Inui blocked another kick with a smirk and then tossed Moka across the field. Uryu cursed as he realized how stupid just rushing in could've been; he didn't have his Quincy cross. What exactly did he think he could do to a Yokai; let alone one that had consumed Hollow blood? Him attacking the fake vampire would be about like a single wasp attacking a bear. He'd probably only get one shot, but would be killed as an end result. He could see Hanataro was also resisting running to help; the medic seemed unusually attached to the red headed vampire that's Moka's sister.

"Use your Bake-bake bat;" Hanataro yelled to her "he has Hollow blood in him now, so normal physical attacks might not be doing as much damage as you think."

Moka mentally slapped herself for not using her new Bake-bake bat; she had completely forgotten she had it now. She looked up and saw it perched on a tree branch watching the fight.

"The shin-guard thing you turned into last time;" she ordered it as she landed on the tree branch next to it.

With a small chirp, it hopped to her leg and took the shape of the bladed shin guard. Moka leaped from the tree and aimed at Junya's head, only to have him take a step back and only get his cheek cut open. He quickly backpedaled to avoid her attacks and felt the cut on his cheek burn more than it should have.

"**Ishida-san;"** Uryu and Hanataro heard as a large sigil appeared next to them and the Head Master appeared **"here is your cross back"** as he handed him the amulet **"you will find Toujo-san at the sensei lounge. Give her this"** as he pulled her wand from his robe **"and assist her in protecting the sensei there."**

Uryu nodded as he took the wand and vanished with a burst of Hirenkyaku; he had been meaning to catch up with the witch, no he shook his head, his fellow species member since he discovered the true Quincy lineage. His entire line of thinking had been completely wrong. His entire life, everything he had been told about the Quincy heritage had been a lie.

"**Yamada-san;"** the Head Master said **"we will need Inui Junya alive. Akashiya-chan won't let him survive if she has her way; so be ready to intervene when the time comes."**

The seventh seat pulled out his container of Shinten and watched as Moka continued her onslaught against the false vampire.

-Uryu-

The Quincy appeared outside of the sensei lounge and saw Hollows swarming it; the only thing keeping them at bay was what looked like tarot cards with wings on them. He used another burst of Hirenkyaku to get to the roof where he could see a small person. As he came to a halt, a winged Hollow tried to dive bomb the girl he had seen; he quickly manifested his spirit bow and shot out the masked creature's left wing. This threw it off course and it crashed into a nearby tree; causing the tree to come down on top of two more Hollow.

"Thank you; I'm Sendo Yukari" Yukari introduced herself as she used her tarot cards to slash another Hollow "why didn't you aim for its mask?"

"Because that would've destroyed the soul;" he explained "where's Toujo-san? I need to give her her wand."

"Ruby's down stairs. Don't worry, I'll be alright."

Uryu nodded as he dematerialized his bow and went to the door that gave access to the building; he ran down the stairs as quickly as he could.

-Ruby-

The older witch did everything she could to keep those in the lounge calm; she was thankful that Yukari had come to walk with her to meet up with her friends. Had she not, the lounge would've been a buffet for the Hollows.

"Stay away from the windows" she ordered as she pulled a sensei from his spot.

"Are these things really that dangerous?" the sensei asked.

"Yes;" she said "now go stand by the wall with the others."

As the sensei went over to the wall, Ruby peered out the window to see just what was going on outside. There were a large number of Hollows attacking the campus again for some reason, but not as many as the other day when the Arrancar attacked.

"Could some of the Hollows told stories about the school?" she asked herself quietly.

A deafening roar was heard as a Hollow came charging through the window. Ruby's eyes went wide as she saw the creature raise its arm to attack her; she couldn't do anything, she didn't have any means of protecting herself. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a hit. Before the blow came though, she heard something whip pass her and the Hollow scream in pain. She opened her eyes to see the arm the Hollow had raised to strike her was severed from the body and laying on the floor.

"Toujo-san;" she heard a familiar voice yell to her "your wand."

She turned around to see the Quincy throwing her wand to her; she snatched it from the air and in one fluid motion charged a ball of Pure Nature's Energy and fired it into the mask of the Hollow. The Hollow roared in pain for the brief second before it was cleansed.

"That was amazing;" she heard several of the sensei say "what are you?"

"I'm a Quincy" Uryu answered looking at Ruby "a subclass of witches and warlocks."

Ruby turned around and had a surprised look on her face. He had figured it out after only two days in the library searching; the feat was an amazing one considering how many books were in the library. Many history books had mixed stories that were hard to find the truth about.

"Thank you;" Ruby said.

-Sora and Talia-

The boy from the future swore as he ducked to keep from getting hit by a sickle shaped arm of a Hollow. He was gradually getting put in a bad spot, and couldn't fight his way out of it. Even though he went with Talia to the cafeteria, they both had their hands full; what made it harder for him was that he didn't have a zanpakuto like Talia did. Each one of his attacks did little more than annoy the masked creatures he hit. He didn't want to use his actual powers; his dad and friends weren't even aware they existed yet and he didn't want to mess up the time line by revealing them.

He landed an uppercut to the masked creature and knocked it backwards a couple feet, but it used its tail to knock him into the air. When he landed, he was immediately surrounded by a number of Hollow. Each one drooling over how his reiatsu felt and ready to devour him entirely.

"SORA" Talia cried out in fear as the Hollows went to attack him.

"Damn it;" he said as he grabbed his Substitute Shinigami Badge.

The next thing Talia saw was a bright green light as the Hollows turned into black vapor showing they had been purified. When the line of green light stopped, she saw Sora standing in front of her in some weird armor. From the back she could see he was wearing something that looked to be a black skin-suit, the pieces that resembled armor were bone white, knee high combat boots, side and back pieces, and what looked like a sheath across his back. As he turned around she could see that the back and side pieces wrapped all the way around and he had gauntlets on both forearms, shoulder pieces, and a line of the armor over the bridge of his nose and protecting his cheeks. (AN: Ichigo's Fullbringer)

"When did…" in shock as Sora blocked another Hollow's attack.

"I finished it the day before you snuck into my room to come here;" as he kicked the hollow "AND YOU OWE ME AN APOLOGY DAMN IT!"

"FOR WHAT?!"

"Oh I don't know, maybe…" he said "KICKING ME IN THE NUTS WHEN I ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION ABOUT BRINGING THE SUBSTITUTE SHINIGAMI BADGE!"

"We can talk about this later;" she said as she sliced through another Hollow.

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire grit her teeth as she watched Inui got up off the ground after receiving an axe kick to the head. She knew what he was; he was an Onimodoki, a cousin to doppelgangers, but nowhere near as dangerous. Where a doppelganger could perfectly imitate anyone, any Yokai species, an Onimodoki could not; there were major flaws in their imitated forms. Using the example right in front of her, Inui could convert his youki into muscle but he couldn't do like a true vampire can do; he couldn't turn youki into raw destructive energy. Even so, the Hollow blood that was in her opponent was making it hard to bring him down. Despite using a Bake-bake bat, he would heal within a couple minutes of receiving the wound.

She landed a powerful kick to Junya's jaw and sent him into the air. As the fake vampire became air born, Moka leapt up in order to deliver a double ax kick and send him crashing back to the ground. Before she could deliver the kick, Junya vanished with a static like boom; Moka's eyes went wide just before she felt a powerful hit land on her back and sent her crashing to the ground instead.

"I can even use sonido!" Junya laughed as Moka got up off the ground "this is better than I expected!"

Moka grabbed the Rosario at her neck and jerked it off; she was done holding back. Power exploded from the silver haired vampire as her youki became visible and even changed the color of the air around them to an eerie red. Her eyes tracked her opponent as he tried to use sonido to get behind her; she spun around and her heel landed against his cheek, which sent him crashing into a tree. As the tree fell, Moka jumped up and placed the tree between her and Junya. Using the new blind spot, she threw a kick and sliced clean through the trunk as well as cutting Junya's hand off just below the wrist. The fake vampire screamed in pain moments before getting another kick to the face from Moka's other leg. Unadulterated fury could be seen on Moka's face as she walked towards Junya in a dangerous motion. She had no intention of letting the imposter live; not after what he did to her sister.

"**That's quite enough Akashiya-san;" **the Head Master said as he put a barrier between Moka and Junya.

"How?!" she demanded to know "how is it 'enough'? HE POISONED MY SISTER! It will be enough when I hang him from the bell tower by his toes" her eyes narrowed dangerously at Junya.

"How will that make you any better than him?" Hanataro asked.

Moka thought about it; no matter who much she wanted to completely destroy the shape shifter, it wasn't worth it. She knew her sister would never look at her the same again if she did it, and, even worse, her mother would be ashamed of her. Killing out of nothing more than rage, it wasn't who she was. It wasn't something she could do, no matter how enraged she was. She let her shoulders slump a little as she walked away from her opponent.

"He's not worth it;" she said with tears forming in her eyes.

Junya held his stump of a forearm and watched in anger as the S-rank vampire just walked away from him. She had removed his hand and was just walking away like nothing major had been done. His anger blinded him and he went to attack her again, only to get hit in the face with a container of green liquid that broke on impact. He felt all his energy get sapped from him and he fell unconscious to the ground.

"What was that?" Moka asked as she looked back at Junya.

"Shinten;" Hanataro explained "for people with high levels of reiatsu it's only a numbing agent, but for people with low levels it knocks them out."

Hanataro went to work on stopping the bleeding from the severed joint on Junya's arm. As the bleeding came to a stop, Hanataro could only think of what could be happening to Kokoa. He knew what could be an end result if he didn't find Kokoa and discover a way to get the Hollow blood out of her system.

"I'm going to need to make a couple phone calls;" Hanataro said to the Head Master.

The Head Master raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

-An hour later-

"Why were there so few Hollow after the bait was broken?" Ichigo asked Uryu.

"Different formula maybe;" the Quincy answered "it could have been a weaker version. I know in the past a weaker formula of normal Hollow Bait to…" he stopped his sentence knowing how Ruby would react.

"Can we *cough* find *cough* what's his name *cough*?" Grimmjow asked "I can't *cough* stop *cough*…"

"We get it" Ichigo said "we need to find Hanataro to get rid of your cough."

"I never thought he would've been such a whiner in the past" Sora said.

Grimmjow gave Sora a glare, but its effect wasn't what it should've been when he started coughing again. Both Ichigo and Sora laughed at the panther's failed attempt to intimidate him; Grimmjow just growled in annoyance. Everything had gone rather smoothly once they had split up and took care of the Hollow attack; there had only been minor injuries and no serious damage to any buildings. The Head Master had said the damage would be repaired by the next day and everything could get back to normal.

"Glad to see everyone is alright;" a familiar, overly jolly voice said.

The group looked to see Urahara with his usual goofy smile plastered on his face and a large cart of equipment in tow.

"What the hell are you doing here Hat-n-Clogs?" Ichigo asked.

"Can't I just visit a friend?"

"Not your style;" Sora said with a straight face "you usually want something."

"I'm insulted;" faking being hurt "but first things first. Who might you two be?"

"Kurosaki Sora" introducing himself.

"Talia" following suit.

"Congrats Ichigo;" with a laugh "a strong boy. Anyway, I'm looking for Yamada Hanataro; he called me and said he needed my help right away. Sounded pretty serious about it too."

"You're not at all surprised that we're from the future?" Talia asked.

"Yoruichi told me already" with a bigger smile.

"Of course she did."

"**Kisuke-san,"** the Head Master said as he approached the group **"Yamada-san is set up in the bell tower. We're waiting on one more person; when she arrives I will escort you both to him."**

Moka raised an eyebrow. She was curious not only about whom all the shinigami had called, but why this seemed so personal for him. He didn't know Kokoa all that well and wasn't sure if they were even friends.

"Please forgive my tardiness;" a familiar voice said in a monotone.

"Nemu-san?" Uryu said in surprise.

"Ishida-san;" with a small bow.

"SHE WAS A SHINIGAMI THE WHOLE TIME TOO?!" Kurumu cried out.

"Not to be rude" Kisuke said "but I believe there is an important matter for us to get to."

"Of course; I will see you around Ishida-san."

"It's weird seeing everyone like this;" Sora said in a sigh "way too formal."

"Tell us about the future;" Yukari said as she clung to Sora's arm "do I finally get with Moka and Tsukune?"

"Not an image I want in my head;" as he pushed the small girl away from him "I'm gonna get out of here before anyone else decides they want spoilers."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, he took off running and Talia followed suit but with a burst of shunpo. They both knew that just them being here was going to have some sort of affect on the timeline and they didn't want to risk messing it up any further. Sora knew that Talia had her own reasons for fleeing the area; the thought of Tsukune being with Moka infuriated her to no end. If they could tell people what they knew then they'd understand why his childhood friend didn't like the silver haired vampire; as well as why that thought could set her off.

"You alright?" he asked Talia when he finally caught up.

"Yea," as she took a deep breath "I just… I want to warn him about what's going to happen. I want to… I want to be able to do things that everyone else got to do but I was forced to miss out on. I never knew him, Issac always kept secrets about him, and all I ever got was a picture in a locket. Even my brother got that stupid coat he used to wear. I want to know him; _really_ know him. To find out who he was and…"

"We got here not long after Tsukune went back to the Seireitei," Sora interrupted "we've been here for three days now. No more than a week left before he returns; if you want to get technical about it, six days since today is pretty much over. While I don't want to be here for that long because of what could happen, I know you want to be able to finally meet him. There's also the problem of us not being able to return to our time; Hat-n-Clogs hasn't even considered the possibility of time travel yet, let alone tried to design the machine. Even if we don't get back we know which companies to buy stock in; we could live comfortably for a while."

"I would have longer than you;" Talia said "Paradox Theory."

"Right…" with a sigh "I'd rather not find out what will happen."

"Odds are Urahara is trying to fix the machine back in our time."

"My dad and your mom are gonna actually kill him this time" with a chuckle.

"What if they knew this was going to happen?"

Sora just looked at his friend and slump his head down. There was a good chance they did know this was going to happen.

-The next morning; Akua-

The red eyed girl watched as Tsukune was led back to his cell; she wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but she knew it most likely wasn't good. There had to be something she could do to help ensure that Tsukune would be allowed to go back to Yokai Academy. She tapped her chin as she tried to think of a way to help out the boy; her tapping against her chin quickly became soft hits against her forehead as she tried to figure something out.

"I was captain of the Zero Squad of Fairy Tale and I can't even figure…" her eyes went wide "I'm a baka."

She quickly took off towards Ukitake-taichou's office; her speed caused a small dust trail to be kicked up behind her. She blew past the co-third seats, and turned the corner before throwing the door of the office open.

"Ukitake-taichou, I would like to speak to the sou-taichou and Central Forty Six."

The white haired taichou looked at the girl with surprise.

"May I ask why?"

"I have information I wish to give them;" with a smile.

-A couple hours later-

"It was rather short notice," Ukitake said to Akua as he led her to Yamamoto's office "but I was able to convince Yamamoto-sou-taichou to at least hear what you have to say. Then he'll decide if you can take it to Central Forty Six."

"Thank you" as they came up to the large doors that led to the office.

Chojiro opened the doors and led the taichou and vampire to Yamamoto. The fuku-taichou remained silent as he led the two through the hall; he knew that Yamamoto wouldn't just hear someone out like this without a good reason. He could feel that there was something off about the girl that was walking with Ukitake-taichou.

"Yamamoto-sou-taichou;" the fuku-taichou said as he knocked on the door "Ukitake-taichou is here with his guest."

"Enter" the sou-taichou's voice boomed.

As Akua entered the office with Ukitake, she could felt a great pressure begin to weigh down on her. She had heard stories that the sou-taichou had immense reiatsu, but didn't think that even while he was keeping it compressed within himself that it would nearly knock the wind out of her just by walking through the door of his office. Quickly recomposing herself, she looked towards the sou-taichou and was surprised to see an elderly man sitting at the desk. She had imagined the sou-taichou as someone who looked far younger.

"You may leave Chojiro."

The man gave a small bow and left.

"I understand you have information you wish to give the Seireitei, Shuzen Akua;" Yamamoto said as he narrowed his eyes "I'm curious as to why."

"Fairy Tale betrayed me, sir;" she answered "and I also wish to help Aono Tsukune return to Yokai Academy."

"And why would the granddaughter of Alucard choose to help someone who was once human?"

That bit of information caught Ukitake off-guard completely. He could easily see that Issa was her father, but he missed that she did have a resemblance to Alucard; then again he only ever saw Alucard a couple times.

"He is a very close friend of my sister's and I owe him for sending me to the Soul Society."

"What information do you have that could encourage Central Forty Six to let Aono return to Yokai Academy?"

"I was head of the Zero Squad, tasked with resurrecting Alucard; I had access to information that very few else did."

"Let this be your only warning," as his eyes tightened "if this turns out to be any sort of trap I will deal with you myself."

-Yokai Academy-

John looked in the mirror and rubbed his jaw line; he remembered when he created this alias twelve years ago for him. While he might have been a part of a different Division, he was still a master infiltrator and occasionally needed to help the Second Division. He had Tsukune to thank for that, showing him something other than plotting and fighting. Every time he thought about it he couldn't help but to laugh at the irony of the situation.

"I really like this face too;" with a sigh as he focused his reiatsu into his bones.

He felt his cheek bones shift to a lower position and his jaw became less square and more triangular. His overall height dropped a couple inches and his hair changed to a sand blonde as it lengthened to his shoulders. He closed his eyes in slight pain as he tilted his head to the side and he felt his shirt tighten even though his shoulders became narrower. When he opened his eyes and saw they had changed to the blue he was looking for; not the powerful blue that would stand out, but not the dull blue that's easy to overlook.

"No matter how many times I do this;" he said in a now feminine voice "it hurts like a bitch. Oh well, at least I don't have the same problem I had when I was alive, just one more thing I'm thankful for Tsukune;" as she examined her new form and smiled "kinda hot, needs a little more butt though."

She watched as her backside went from the semi-plump, tiny butt to the clearly firm, somewhat large butt. With a smirk she gave a full spin before examining her skin tone.

"Better than that ridiculously tan tone some have;" referring to two individuals specifically "she was crazy to let me copy her form. Oh well" with a giggle "it's saved my ass a couple times."

She cupped her breasts and felt her eye twitch in annoyance. It wasn't that she was displeased with the size they came out to on the first try, but now she had to find a bra to wear. She was born male, but her species could easily change genders with no real reason to fuss; it just annoyed her to have to wear a bra.

"Necessary evil;" with a sigh "I'll need to borrow some clothes. And think of a name for this form" tapping her chin.

After giving herself another spin she narrowed down the possibilities.

"Jenny?" she thought "no, I would need red hair for that. Meg? Eww. Jo?" as she leaned closer to the mirror "Yea, Jo."

She lifted up her shirt and could see her Hollow Hole where her belly button should've been and sighed.

"It would've been a cute belly button" with anime tears running down her face.

-Ichigo-

Ichigo walked through the empty halls towards where Urahara was. The night had been uneventful for him, but hopefully the three working together had made some sort of progress on figuring out what they can use to save Moka's sister. Once they made some headway on that, they can work on actually finding her.

"This is one hell of a time for Tsukune to be in the Seireitei;" he sighed.

While Tsukune might be safer in the Seireitei, he knew more about Yokai than he did; something that was gradually starting to annoy him. The only thing he knew about Yokai was what he had believed growing up; now that he knew real Yokai, he found that that was a lie. Vampires, witches, yuki-ona, succubae, and werewolves; a couple of the stereotypes were true, but most of what humans thought was crap. Werewolves usually ran in packs and seemed to not get along with vampires; vampires were extremely powerful but had a surprising weakness. Succubae and yuki-ona were considered mistress Yokai and had a natural beauty to them. And witches were very close to nature and could cast spells. If Tsukune were here, then he could easily find the Arrancar from the future by noticing the off things about a Yokai.

"Oi, Urahara;" as he knocked on the door "you find anything out?"

"We found a couple things out;" as the door opened and the shop owner was on the other side "holy crap it's morning already?"

"It's almost lunch time…" Ichigo deadpanned.

"Better not let Yoruichi find out," he laughed "she'll try to skin me. Anyway," as he led Ichigo into the room "since Inui-san had been impersonating a vampire his body was able to process the Hollow blood out of his system. I'm still not sure how a real vampire's internal organs function normally, let alone when they're processing blood; Hanataro left a little while ago to talk to Moka-san and try to figure it out."

"His dismembered hand began to change form;" Nemu added in "we assumed that because it wasn't attached to his body it retained traces of Hollow blood. A test proved the hypothesis. We kept the subject…"

"We talked about this Nemu-san;" Kisuke chimed in "he has a name."

"Junya Inui" correction herself "sedated so we could do blood tests in order to discover how much Hollow blood he consumed."

-Moka-

The silver haired vampire stared at her plate of food but didn't have the appetite to eat anything from it. Her sister was somewhere hyped up on Hollow blood and she had no clue as to what it was doing to her. She was stuck sitting through classes, and trying to eat lunch like there was nothing wrong. That couldn't be furthest from the truth; she had already lost Akua and she wasn't sure she could handle losing Kokoa too. Kokoa was alone, and that thought terrified her to the core.

"Akashiya-san;" she heard.

When she looked at the person she saw Hanataro; he had bags under his eyes that suggested he had been awake all night and seemed to be exhausted.

"I need your help with something," getting straight to the point.

"What is it?"

"I need to figure out how a vampire processes blood they consume."

Moka nodded before she got up and followed the medical shinigami; she knew that this could very well lead to discovering a way to help Kokoa cycle off of the Hollow blood once they find her.

-A couple hours later-

Hanataro looked at everyone in the room; now that they were all here he could tell them what he's found. It wasn't going to be easy for him considering how close to the situation he was. While everyone else had a since of unease to them, he could see that Moka was wanting this to go ahead and start so they could find Kokoa. He knew the feeling, but he wanted to find her for a slightly different reason.

"Let's get started;" he said calmly "we found that with Shuzen-san being a vampire she can come down from Hollow blood. I found how vampires process blood they consume thanks to Akashiya-san. Now we just need to find her."

"I've already set up a room to keep her in while we let her body naturally clean itself;" Kisuke said "once she is in it, we can easily monitor her condition as she recovers."

"So we just need to find her then and everything will be alright?" Kurumu asked.

"That is our hypothesis at the moment;" Nemu said "in the past no one had survived consuming Hollow blood because their bodies couldn't process it."

"What do…" Ruby asked hesitantly "what do you mean… by 'in the past'?"

Nemu looked down in shame; it wasn't an answer she wanted to explain.

"Twenty three years ago" Hanataro said "Kurotsuchi-taichou discovered Urahara-san's notes on hollowfication. After studying them, he believed he could give shinigami Hollow powers without creating an inner hollow. None of those that were forced to be subjects survived and Central Forty Six forbid him from continuing the research. That's why we need to decide on how to find Shuzen-san right now; the longer she's out there the more Hollow blood she could consume and…" he locked his jaw to keep from saying the last part.

Nemu put her hand on his shoulder. She remembered how broken he became when this happened the first time; that was when she started to understand emotions herself but was forced to keep it secret from her father.

"Should we not locate Shuzen-san soon" Nemu said for him "there is a slight chance there will be permanent damage that only Inoue-san will be able to fix. Two possibilities have been thought of on how to locate her: an all-out man hunt for her or trapping her using bait of some sort."

"Why not both?" Yukari asked.

"Because right now we don't know what she's capable of;" Kisuke said "we only have a hunch that she has drank straight from a Hollow once. Since then she could've fed any number of times and be even stronger than her usual self. If we were to try to execute an all-out man hunt with a trap, we could back her into a corner and quite possibly severally hurt those involved. It has to be one or the other."

"Since this is Moka's sister" Mizore said looking to the vampire "what would you prefer to be done?"

Moka thought about what the yuki-ona had asked; a trap could hurt her sister, but then again so could an all-out man hunt for her. If they were to just try to hunt her down there was no telling where Kokoa could end up and something could happen.

"What will we use as bait?" Moka asked giving her answer.

"I'm saddened to say" Urahara said "it'll have to be Hollow blood. Or someone with Hollow blood."

"Well you have two right here;" Grimmjow said pointing to Ichigo and himself.

"It won't work;" Sora objected "you two are far too strong for her. If she's hyped up on Hollow blood she's probably acting more off of instinct than anything else; she won't even go near you two right now. It'll have to be me."

"Have you lost your mind?!" Talia shouted at him.

"Sora-kun; no" Orihime agreed.

"I was born part Hollow, but I'm also part shinigami and Quincy; if anyone's to be the bait it'll have to be me."

"You're forgetting about the Hollow I have under my control" Kurumu said.

"What happens if that doesn't work? She'll drink from your Hollow, get even stronger, and then cleanse it with her Bake-bake bat. She's already smelled my blood and I'm sure I can take her when she makes her move. And even if the trap doesn't work and she manages to capture me, because I'm not a full Hollow it'll help bring her down from her high. The best choice is for me to be the bait."

"At least take someone with you;" Ichigo said.

"Hanataro, let's go find Kokoa."

The seventh seat nodded and they left the room. To everyone else it seemed that Sora wanted to give Hanataro the chance to save someone; Talia knew the reason Sora wanted to take Hanataro with him though. In their time Hanataro had told them about what finally gave him the drive to get stronger as a medic and a shinigami, and everything was lining up so far.

'_Maybe we WERE supposed to end up going back in time'_ Talia thought to herself.


	45. Chapter 45

The Head Master sat at his desk writing up a plan for a new security force on campus; he knew what was to come and the only thing he could do without compromising the future was prepare those that will play a key part. He needed to find a way to keep Moka and Kokoa on campus since their father decided to cut their funding for tuition; Tsukune would also need to have a source of income to pay tuition. The plan he was thinking of would slap Issa in the face rather hard once it becomes finalized by the board. This was the one downside to the Academy; most of the plans that he had for the campus had to get approval from funders and the two boards that oversaw it. A smile grew on his face as he looked at the file name. He had toyed with the notion of calling the new group something overly cliché like 'Guardians' but decided on something a little subtler: 'Regulators'.

"I still think you should call them Avengers" Fuhai said as he turned a page in his manga.

"**I've already told you my reason for saying no to the name;"** as he placed the file in his desk drawer **"Yokai Academy will never fall and there will be no need to avenge anything. And I thought you didn't care for American comics."**

"Some of them I actually like."

The Head Master only chuckled as he looked up to the ceiling.

"**Do you think that my compassion for everything on this planet makes me soft?"**

"Where is this coming from all the sudden?"

"**It's just a thought I've had recently;"** he confessed **"only one person has known me longer than you and I want your opinion as a friend."**

"Only a fool would think compassion is a weakness. Look at what you've accomplished through acts of compassion rather than acts of power; you've created a school to help Yokai fit into human civilization until they find people they can trust to reveal their secret to. No matter what you are, how strong you are, you better remember I still taught you seals and barriers and can still give you a thrashing if I need to. So don't you ever think you're soft because you care."

There was a pregnant silence between the two; Fuhai was right. There were a number of Yokai that viewed Yokai Academy as a lost cause that should be abandoned and never looked back to. However, the board was comprised of both humans and Yokai alike, hell, even an actual demon sat on it; if that wasn't proof enough that Yokai Academy wasn't a lost cause he wasn't sure what was. The human race hadn't stood still since that day five hundred years ago; there will always be those that refuse to believe Yokai and humans can coexist, but a surprising number would welcome Yokai with open arms.

"**Thank you."**

-Talia-

The girl from the future stood upside down in the middle of the room that she had been left in with Rangiku, Grimmjow, Ichigo, Orihime, Yachiru, Soifon, Kurumu, Mizore, Ruby, Yukari, and Moka. The bored look on her face said everything that needed saying; she was itching to get out of the room, but Urahara advised against anyone leaving. She ran her finger through her hair absent mindedly with a sigh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Moka giving her a weird look.

"Can I help you with something Akashiya?"

"For a moment I thought you looked like my sister did when she would phase through a floor out of boredom;" Moka answered "you just have that look in your eyes."

"I'm not a raging, homicidal maniac" with a snort "and it wouldn't have been phasing; she would bend the dimension around her in a way that allowed her to pass through solid objects in this dimension without needing to destroy anything. And it's called Jigen-Tou; originally created by Fuhai Touhou, Akua managed to copy the ability based off stories alone and almost perfected it."

"What do you know about Akua?" Moka snarled.

"For starters?" with a yawn "she was once a part of Fairy Tale and had killed numerous humans, Yokai and shinigami as commander of their Zero Squad. She'll completely reform and have a happy life."

Moka's eyes went a little wide when she heard this; Akua was safe and was going to be happy. The only way that could've been possible was if Akua was in the Soul Society, and, based off what Orihime had told her, she was going to end up in the Seireitei. Akua was safe, and hadn't become a Hollow. She knew she should've been furious with how Talia spoke of her sister, but the fact that Talia knew Akua was enough to calm her.

"Thank you" Moka said with a soft smile "I was scared that Akua-nee had turned into a Hollow."

"Talia-san;" Kisuke said "may I have a word with you in private?"

Talia hopped down from the ceiling, landing with the grace of any true martial artist, and stepped outside the room with the blond man. In her time she didn't really care for the guy, but she had to tolerate him. He was like family to her, in his own way, so she often listened to him and wouldn't completely blow him off.

"If you're going to ask whose kid I am," Talia said as she heard the door slide closed "I'm not going to tell you."

"I already have a good idea as to whose daughter you are;" in a somewhat serious voice "but this isn't about that. I know that there are certain things you can't tell me without risking the future getting bent into a new shape but…" he was finding it hard to ask the question.

When he and Yoruichi first joined the shinigami ranks they went to do their physicals; his came back completely normal, but for Yoruichi, it broke her heart. She discovered she couldn't have children and it devastated her. To the public, she showed indifference about it; often saying things like 'I wasn't sure I wanted kids', or 'I'd make a horrible mother anyways'. He could see the truth behind the lies she told; she did want kids and he knew she'd make a good mother.

"Do I…" his voice shaking slightly "do I find a way?"

Talia knew what he meant immediately.

"She won't shut up about it;" with a smile "Byakuya seems to get it the worst. I guess it's because of how things are in my time. _'I know you wanna rub my belly'_" imitating Yoruichi's voice "_'You know you're jealous.'_ You find a way; just keep reminding her that in a couple years."

"Thank you;" with a smile of his own.

-Sora and Hanataro-

The two looked around campus in a comfortable silence as they tried to locate Kokoa. Sora knew just how personal this was for Hanataro; he also knew what would come of him saving Kokoa. He opened his senses as best he could and tried to feel Kokoa's reiatsu, but couldn't find it. A sigh escaped him; it was different knowing how things would turn out and trying to make sure they stay that way.

"I think she might be that way;" Hanataro said as he pointed towards deeper in the woods.

"Isn't there the ruins of a castle over there?" Sora asked himself as he followed Hanataro.

"So… uh" wanting to break the silence "exactly how tall are you used to seeing me?"

"About seven inches taller;" Sora answered "you keep your hair the same too. You also become the go-to person for information on Yokai medical needs."

"Why would you tell me that? Couldn't it change the future?" in shock.

"Doubt it;" in a calm voice as he stopped and looked around "certain things in time are fixed; deaths, battles, lives. Other things could change and have almost no affect of the fixed points. In my opinion, you becoming the go-to guy for Yokai medical needs is fixed. When I was a kid I was told a story of what led to that; it was a promise, wasn't it?"

Hanataro's eyes widened when he heard that.

"I did make a promise;" he admitted "it was a promise to Shuzen-san. I couldn't heal a group of Yokai fast enough and she almost got hurt."

'_That promise will have more rewards than you originally thought'_ Sora thought as he looked around.

"It's awfully quiet" Hanataro said.

"Too quiet."

Sora opened up his senses and tried to figure out what was the cause for the silence; his eyes carefully skimmed over everything in the immediate area. He couldn't feel anything that would be responsible for causing the bats that usually screeched through the sky to be absent. As he carefully reached for his Substitute Shinigami Badge, he felt a small spike of reiatsu not too far from where they were. It was almost like something was making them their prey; he needed to draw them out, and he hoped it was only Kokoa. There was something different about the reiatsu he felt, but he couldn't tell if it was Kokoa or not.

"It's Shuzen-san;" Hanataro whispered.

Sora looked at his hand and made a decision; he knew that if Talia were here she'd kick his ass for this. He bit into the palm of his hand as hard as he could until he felt the skin break, and then bit a little harder. He could taste his blood from his hand as he let go of it and, as if on cue, a battle-cry was heard from behind them. The duo moved to the side as quick as they could and saw Kokoa's Morningstar crash down where they had been standing. The weapon changed into a katana as the doped vampire turned her full attention to the one with Hollow blood; Sora could see the crazed look in her eyes, this wasn't the Kokoa he remembered. He twisted to the side to avoid getting impaled, grabbed Kokoa's wrist and threw her into a tree.

"Don't hurt her!" Hanataro shouted.

"I'm only trying to knock her out;" Sora said as he watched the vampire get up "I'm not sure this will be as easy as I had hoped."

He jumped back to dodge the living weapon; sure he had proper martial arts training, but Kokoa was faster and stronger than him. One hit from her and he could be done for. Kokoa lunged at him; using his larger size, he pushed her weapon away from his body as he drove his knee into her gut. He grit his teeth as the hit hurt him as well; Kokoa had a Hierro, a surprisingly strong one. Putting some distance between him and the red head, he narrowed his eyes at her as he reached for his Substitute Shinigami Badge.

"No choice" as he gripped it.

What appeared to be several white ribbons came from the badge and wrapped around his body until it formed his Fullbringer.

"I have Hollow blood running through my veins," as he pointed his blade at Kokoa "but I'm not a Hollow. This is your only chance Kokoa-san, let us help you."

Kokoa's mouth twisted into a sickening grin as she felt her opponent's new reiatsu; she was salivating just from anticipation of his blood. She used a burst of sonido and tried to get behind her opponent, only to have him vanish just as she brought her weapon down. She twisted her blade and spun around to keep Sora's from slicing into her. Her face molded into a scowl as she tried to push her blade into Sora's gut but he vanished again. Disappearing with a static-like boom, the two continued fighting at a high speed.

Hanataro tried to keep track of where they were, but could only see them when they stopped long enough to either make an attack or block. He could see that Sora was getting warn out just as fast as he was moving and he wasn't going to be able to keep this up. Sparks flew through the air every time the weapons clashed against one another. His eyes were slowly able to keep track of Sora; the tide of the battle was going to change drastically very soon. Sora went to bring his sword down, only to have Kokoa sonido from in front of him and appear behind him with her now Morningstar already mere inches away from his body. He winced as the large weapon made contact and sent the future Kurosaki slamming into a tree; the impact knocked him out while making a decent sized gash on his forehead just below the hairline. He quickly went to dig through his bag to find his second container of Shinten. Just as he saw the container, he heard a static boom in front of him; as he looked up, Kokoa knocked him out with a head-butt.

Kokoa looked at her main prize from the fight with a grin as she walked over to him; she wanted a sample of his blood. When she kicked his blade away from him, his armor disappeared back to the badge as she rolled him over. The scent of blood tickled her nose. Her body ached and begged for a full helping right then, but she fought it as she licked the blood from his forehead. Her eyes went wide in disgust just before she spat what she had sampled out. It tasted horrible, no better than a transfusion packet. She grabbed the badge, slammed it against Sora's body and forced his soul out. She resampled his blood and found it delicious.

She looked over to the unconscious shinigami and a Chester grin formed on her face as she picked up Sora and tossed him over her shoulder. She had dinner and a show. After using sonido to get over to Hanataro, she picked him up too and vanished to her hideout.

-Ichigo-

"This is taking way too long" finally voicing what everyone else had been thinking for the past ten minutes.

"I'm sure everything's fine" Uryu said trying to reassure him.

"It's been hours;" Orihime agreed with Ichigo "even though the campus is big, they should've checked in by now."

"He's your son Kurosaki;" Soifon said "since when have you ever been punctual?"

"Sora does usually check in" Talia said in her friend's defense.

"I'm gonna go look for him;" Ichigo said as he got up and left the room.

"Me too" Orihime followed.

"Hold up!" Talia said as she rushed to catch up; she couldn't let them find out the truth.

-Hanataro-

The medical shinigami let out a groan as he regained consciousness; his head had a throbbing ache and he gently rubbed where the pain was coming from. He felt a small knot on his forehead. The last thing he remembered was reaching for his spare container of Shinten and Kokoa was in front of him. As his eyes finally came into focus, he could see that he was in a large room of some sort. The walls were made of hand crafted stone bricks and held in place by some sort of plaster, there were a couple candles that kept the room lit enough to see but not bright enough to blind someone walking in, a wooden door that looked to be in surprisingly good condition, and the room itself was free of furnishings but had rumble that seemed to have collapsed from the ceiling shattered on the floor.

He carefully made his way to the door, being careful not to find any sharp fragments of rumble. The sound of his feet hitting the ground echoed in the relatively empty room; it filled the medic with unease. He had been in bad situations before, but nothing quite like this. The pregnant silence that was only broken by his footsteps, but even that caused a creepy echo that could chill someone like him.

Before he could reach the door, it creaked open; the hinges protesting loudly as the door swung to the full open position. In the frame stood Kokoa with a grin on her face and a line of blood coming from her mouth showing she had just drank from someone. Her grin turned into a scowl when she saw how close he had gotten to the door before she arrived; she stepped into the room and slammed the door in anger. She wasn't going to let him escape; she wasn't going to let him even get close. Hanataro gulped as he took a step back from her; this wasn't the Kokoa he remembered, but he knew that this was just the Hollow blood controlling her. Her steps held a dangerous sway with each stride. Her eyes showed she was only running on raw instinct and he wasn't sure if he should be afraid or not. She could easily overpower him in a number of ways, and he wasn't sure what else she was capable of; even less so now that she had just drank from someone with Hollow blood. He really hoped Sora was alright.

Kokoa jumped at him and he barely moved out of the way in time to keep from getting hit by her. He heard a growl of annoyance just before he spun around and saw Kokoa was right in front of him. Her hand grabbed hold of his sash and made short work of the knot that held his top in place. The medic made a quick back step to get away from the girl, and it worked for a brief second; giving him just enough time to put some space between him and Kokoa. The sash was pulled from its place on his top as he continued to put a little more space between him and her.

The look on her face when she saw the scar across his torso showed a confliction; as if she wanted to ask about it, but was afraid to. He felt his back press against the wall as he tried to keep a safe distance from Kokoa while she came out of her daze. She unbuttoned her top and slid it off her shoulders; Hanataro covered his eyes to keep from seeing anything. He felt her press herself against him, the fabric of her bra rubbed against his chest as she tried to get him to remove his hand from his face. She wasn't using as much force as she could, it was like she was trying to force him to do something but not hurt him. He fought her grip on his forearm as best he could, but she was naturally stronger than him.

"Shuzen-san, please stop" Hanataro protested as he felt his arm being moved.

He heard her growl as she put a little more force into moving his arm. As he resisted, he felt her grip slip a little and he took advantage of the new opening; he quickly moved from being against the wall while trying to put distance between him and Kokoa again. Before he could get far though, Kokoa's grip tightened on his sleeve and caused him to end up being jerked to the side as his top was nearly ripped off. He managed to slid his arm out of the sleeve before he could be yanked to the ground; being as clumsy as he was though, he tripped over his own feet and slammed to the ground on a couple of sharp rocks. He winced in pain as he felt the edges pierce his skin.

To his surprise, Kokoa hadn't jumped on him; when he looked back at her, he could see tears forming in her eyes. He remembered the four scars that now ran across his back from when he saved her from the Hollow the other day. Before he could get up, Kokoa had backed away from him and was now against the wall herself with tears threatening to erupt from her. Her body shook as Hanataro stood up and she saw blood slowly running from where the rocks had pierced his skin. He carefully removed each rock as he healed the wound; luckily there weren't any scars from the small wounds. He looked up and saw Kokoa shaking as she took slow, careful steps towards him; something told him she wasn't going to try to do anything this time.

"I'm alright;" he said as she reached out to where the rocks had been in his stomach.

The dam seemed to break as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her head against his chest. He could feel her tears drip from her face and onto his chest as she tightened her grip on him.

"I'm fine Shuzen-san" he assured her as he wrapped his arms around her.

This only seemed to make it worse as she started to collapse to the ground and her crying got louder and turned into a wale. The seventh seat gently lowered her to the ground and held her close to him.

-Talia, Ichigo, and Orihime-

The trio looked everywhere in their search for Sora and Hanataro; Ichigo managed to keep his concern hidden, but Orihime was gradually becoming hard to deal with. Talia worried about what could happen if Orihime found out the truth about Sora. Orihime hadn't allowed it to happen yet and if she found out there could be serious repercussions.

"Is that…?" Ichigo asked as they came to a small opening "Sora!"

Ichigo took off running to his future son in a panic; he wasn't moving and had blood coming from him. Orihime began to shake in fear as she sent her fairy like creatures to try to heal him.

"He's…" Orihime began to cry.

The last thing Talia needed was for Orihime to break down into a crying mess. She could only think of one thing that would keep the human girl from bursting into tears; she knew that Sora was going to throw a fit because of this.

"That's a gigai;" Talia interrupted.

"Why would he need a gigai?" Ichigo asked.

Talia hid her fear of being found out she had in her and thought of something as quickly as she could.

"There was a complication at birth that Orihime couldn't fix because of he was just born," she lied "so Urahara made the gigai so it would age like a normal, living human body. It took him a while, but he managed it; as you can see. It looks like Kokoa took Hanataro too" as she pointed to the Fourth Division bag on the ground not too far away.

"They were taken that way;" Orihime said as she pointed in the direction.

The three took off towards where Orihime had pointed; Talia vanished with shunpo after a couple steps. She couldn't let Ichigo and Orihime find Sora first. If they saw his natural hair color she wasn't sure how they'd react. Sure, she could easily lie about it saying it's a random genetic mutation; but Sora couldn't do it and would feel inclined to tell them. She had to trail she needed to find her friend. As she took each step, she was careful to stay on the reiatsu trail; at the speed she was going it would be easy to lose the thin line that was left. She swore softly as she wished she had decided to go looking for Sora earlier. At least then the reiatsu trail would've been easier to follow instead of having to follow what might as well have been sewing thread. When she finally found a strong trail of reiatsu, she found herself at the ruins of what looked like used to be a castle.

"I don't remember this being at Yokai Academy;" she said to herself as she ran into the ruins.

She remembered when her mother took her and her brother to Yokai Academy when they were younger; seems like the Head Master had always been a creepy guy. Even when she was just a kid, he seemed to have known her. Now that she was here, she understood why that was. Perhaps her and Sora were supposed to go back in time.

-Tsukune; mindscape-

"I don't think I'm supposed to bend this way" he said with small tears running from his eyes as Akasha bent his leg towards the back of his head.

"You need to improve your flexibility since the pseudo-bankai I gave you hinders your Arrancar abilities;" she said as she heard a small pop come from Tsukune's back "please keep steady. If your arms give out now it could end up feeling worse than it does now."

Tsukune regretted accepting Akasha's offer to teach him yoga now; sure it was good for the body, but at what cost? He felt like he was about to get broken into two at the moment. He still had that pestering feeling like he was missing something major back at Yokai Academy, but he couldn't do anything about it from where he was. The best thing he could do at the moment was to train with Akasha and try to get better at using the pseudo-bankai she gave him. Akasha had already said that she didn't mind him having to combine his Hollowfication with the pseudo-bankai because of the drawbacks the fake bankai had, but that didn't stop Tsukune from wanting to be able to fight without having to combine the two.

His arms gave out and he fell to the ground face first; ending up in a tangled mess with Akasha on top of him. He was thankful it wasn't in an awkward position like what usually seemed to happen at Yokai Academy when he fell onto one of his friends. Many would swear that he would plan the falls perfectly to end up in the positions he usually ended up in.

"Sorry;" Tsukune said "I guess I'm not ready to try that just yet."

"It's alright," with a smile as she got up "you tried to warn me. It would seem that someone is trying to get your attention in the real world; rest a little and we will continue later."

Tsukune nodded before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes; when he opened them again he was back in his cell at the Thirteenth Division Head Quarters. He blinked his eyes to let them adjust to the different light and saw that it was Unohana-taichou that had wanted his attention. The 'Mother of the Seireitei', as he heard several call the medical taichou had her usual peaceful smile on her face with her hand gently holding each other in front of her.

"Hello Unohana-taichou" Tsukune greeted her "is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes Aono-san," her words sounding like honey to the ears "there was something that showed up on your most recent physical that I wish to discuss with you. There is something I would like to ask you first though."

"Ok."

"How is Hanataro-san doing at Yokai Academy? He has been sending in reports as usual and even requested extra deployment time because of the recent hollow attack, but I can't seem shake a feeling."

"I think he's doing fine. From what I heard from Moka-chan, he was being chased by Kokoa-chan for a little while but that stopped just before I got back from training with the Visoreds. I really wish I were at Yokai Academy right now."

"I understand that you're missing your friends, and thank you for telling me he is doing well."

"No problem; what was it that showed up in my physical?"

"You've lost an almost unhealthy amount of body fat while on your deployment in the short time you were there. Going from twelve percent body fat to seven percent in only a few weeks is cause for me to express concern, but I didn't want to say anything earlier given the circumstances. I'd like to know the diet and training regimen that you were on while deployed to make sure it isn't dangerous for your body."

"Let's see" as he thought about it "I'm up around six am most mornings to do light stretching and practice Hakuda stances, after that I have breakfast: eight eggs, three glasses of orange juice or milk depending on what the cafeteria offers that day, eight pieces of bacon or sausage, five muffins, hash browns if they have them, and Yachiru-chan usually gives me a piece of candy from her bag as we head to class. Lunch I usually have five servings of what they're serving that day; they mostly offer some sort of chicken, turkey or fish rarely ham or cheese burgers. Once classes are done for the day I'll take care of homework, and then go on patrol till about five. After that I'll train with either Soifon-taichou, Grimmjow-san, or Matsumoto-fuku-taichou till about seven or eight. Once I get cleaned up from that, I'll go down to the cafeteria and have six servings of whatever they're serving that day; it varies with what they offer. They offer fruits and vegetables with every lunch and dinner though."

"I see. About how much fat do you consume throughout the day?"

"The bacon or sausage, sometimes the cafeteria will serve burgers from lunch or dinner, umm…" having to think hard about it "I think that's it."

"Any sweets other than the candy Yachiru offers in the morning?"

"Not really. I haven't had much of a sweet tooth since I started at the Shinigami Academy."

"I would advise more red meats with fat still on it; also, even though it's unusual for me to say this, you should eat more sweets. If your body doesn't get enough sugar from sources other than fruits and vegetables it could be harmful with your metabolism. Are you getting enough sleep?"

"Most nights…" as he shrunk back a little.

"Meaning…?" her voice having less honey on it.

"Four nights a week I'll get between six to eight hours, but on nights I have patrol I'll get two or three."

"Should you get back to Yokai Academy, I would advise cutting back the number of nights in a week that you have patrol until you manage to improve your diet to compensate for your metabolism."

"Yes ma'am;" with a nod "there's something else I'd like to add. Recently I've gotten better control of my hollow powers, I'm able to dawn a Hollow mask now, could my metabolism have increased because of me getting better control of my reiatsu and different abilities?"

"There is that possibility, but I would need to do a more thorough physical without any reiatsu restrainers on you. Now that I've covered what I came to talk to you about, I heard you achieved bankai; congratulations. Only a month as a student at the Shinigami Academy and you achieve bankai. Not very many ever gain shikai; even fewer gain bankai. Only taichou have bankai with the exception of Ichigo-san and Arabai-fuku-taichou. And to be able to use it well enough to take on the Tres Espada in such a short time is also a great feat."

"I didn't just use bankai to fight her though;" looking down in slight shame "I had to use my Hollowfication and even then, it didn't last long. Had she continued to fight with me…" closing his eyes remembering the fight "she would've been able to beat me without a problem."

"Then get stronger;" she answered with a smile "from what the reports have said I'm certain we will see her again. You'll need to be strong enough to protect your friends from almost any enemy. Just never think that you have to shoulder the burden alone."

"Thank you;" as he gave her a bow "and I never really fight alone. Akasha-chan is always right there with me, and I know that my friends are behind me."

"That's good to hear" with a warm smile.

As she left the room, she felt a ping of guilt for not being able to tell him about what's happening at Yokai Academy at the moment. Kokoa had been poisoned with Hollow blood, two kids from the future were there as well as an Arrancar from the future, and everyone at Yokai Academy was practically chasing their tails. She wondered what the Arrancar was waiting for.

-Sora-

The Kurosaki from the future groaned in pain as his eyes slowly opened. The last thing he remembered was fighting Kokoa and then… now he was waking up, he took in his surroundings, wherever he was now. He went to rub his head and found that he was chained to a wall in an old fashion restraint. Cold, that's what he felt running down his arm; his eyes adjusted and he could see that there were two small slits in his forearm.

"That's just great;" he said weakly "Talia's gonna have a field day with this one."

He heard steps coming from outside where he was being held; it was a small prison cell that looked like it belonged in a dungeon, the bars were covered in dust, dirt and grime with the only breaks in it being from where someone had opened and closed the door to walk in and out of the cell. Fear gradually crept into him as he began to think it was Kokoa coming back for another serving.

"Sora?" he heard a familiar voice call out quietly.

"Thank God it's you Talia;" he said in relief as his friend came into view "get me out of here and to Ma."

Talia looked at the door to the cell and looked around for a set of keys but couldn't find any. She looked at the door again.

"Half bound hinges…" before she grabbed a large bar and placed the end at the bottom of the door and put a bucket she found near it to act as a pivot point "I hope this really works."

Talia put all her weight on the bar and, sure enough, the door was lifted off its hinges and came crashing to the ground in a noisy fashion. She rushed in and began to work on the cuffs on Sora's wrists with a bobby-pin from her hair.

"Kokoa-san drank from me;" in an ashamed voice.

"Let's get you back into your gigai first, then we can worry about that" as the first cuffs came loose "I don't know how far behind me Ichigo and Orihime are. But they can't know the truth; not yet."

Sora just looked at his friend as she went to work on the second cuff. This was backwards; he was usually the one getting her out of trouble when he was in the Soul Society or when she came to the World of the Living. They had been friends for as long as he could remember and many would joke that you can't see one of them without the other being there even though it wasn't true. It was just every time she was in the World of the Living or he was in the Seireitei, they'd hangout.

"Got it" she said.

Sora let his arms fall to the ground as Talia began working on the collar piece. Maybe there was some merit to what the rumors said; they were childhood friends and usually got along great. They always hangout together, sparred when they got the chance, and, hell, when her and her mom had an argument she'd somehow end up using him as a pillow rather he was in the Seireitei or in the World of the Living. He cared about her; probably more than he had realized before. The lock on his neck opened up and he started to fall.

"I got you" as she caught him and put one arm over her shoulder.

"Dizzy;" Sora said as she lifted him up "Kokoa-san must have taken a good bit of blood. Can we take it a little slow?"

"We can't risk Ichigo and Orihime seeing your real hair color;" she retorted "I'm sorry but we need to move."

"Alright."

He knew she was right; if his Ma found out the truth it could destroy her and he didn't want that. In his time, they were a great family that many gave weird looks to but they didn't care. They were family and loved each other regardless of what others thought, but there was hell to pay from him if someone insulted them and he found out.

-Ichigo and Orihime-

"I wonder why Talia just took off like that" Ichigo wondered as they entered what looked like ruins of a castle.

The couple looked around until they found what looked like an old painting hanging from a mantle in a bedroom. It looked like it was of a family; several brothers and sisters in one image with an infant being held by what was assumed to be a man in the middle. Ichigo blew the dust off and saw that the infant had pink hair and the man who was holding her had his face burned off of the picture. Then a realization dawned on him.

"That's Akasha Bloodriver;" as his eyes went wide.

"Who?" Orihime asked.

"An old friend of Zangetsu;" looking at the picture closer "there all vampires. This isn't just one picture of brothers and sisters, it's of several generations."

"Why's the man in the middle burnt out?"

"A falling out maybe? We shouldn't be worrying about this" as he went back to the door "we need to find Hanataro."

"What was that?" Orihime asked as she heard something just outside the door.

"I didn't see anything" looking outside the door "you probably just thought you heard something. This place is kinda creepy."

Orihime just nodded as she held tightly to Ichigo's arm as they walked through the ruins. Ichigo was surprised that parts of the place were still standing, but he remembered that back then things were built to last forever. There were a couple spots that would crumble a little as a rat or similar small creature scurried across a fragile section of railing, brick, or whatever. Eventually they found their way to what looked like it could've been another bedroom; the door was massive and looked like it had been moved recently. Ichigo ejected his soul from his body as a precaution and pushed the door open.

It creaked in protest, but opened up anyway. When the door was cracked enough to look inside, he saw Hanataro sitting in the corner holding Kokoa covered in his shinigami top. At first Ichigo was afraid that Hanataro had no choice but to do the unthinkable, but let out a breath of relief when the small red head rubbed her head against the medic's shoulder. The medic put his finger to his lips showing that Ichigo and Orihime had to be very quiet so that Kokoa wouldn't wake up with a startle.

"Wait here" Ichigo whispered to Orihime before carefully stepping into the room.

Orihime nodded as she watched Ichigo tiptoe into room. Her boyfriend offered to take Kokoa from Hanataro, but the medic declined and only asked for some help getting up. She saw the two of them flinch as Kokoa seemed to be waking up.

"Yamada-kun" she managed to hear Kokoa say in her sleep.

She let out a sigh of relief as the two made their way out of the room; Hanataro carrying Kokoa bridal style. As they made their way through the ruins, Orihime saw the four scars on his back and wondered where he had gotten them. When they finally made it out of the ruins, the light from the setting sun nearly blinded them.

"Yamada-kun," they heard Kokoa say.

The seventh seat looked down to see her eyes were barely cracked open. He could see that something was wrong; it was in her eyes.

"What is it Shuzen-san?" he asked.

"I…" weakly as she gripped his shoulder "I'm in pain. My body aches. Help me" she pleaded.

"We will," as he pulled her closer to his body "just hold on. Please."


	46. Chapter 46

Gyokuro sat at her desk as she sipped on a glass of wine. In light of recent discoveries she had to adjust her plans; it wasn't a big problem like some would've made it out to be, but it was a little annoying. Aono Tsukune not only having bankai, but control of his Hollowfication presented a problem; more so considering who his zanpakuto is. She needed to figure something out, it was just a hunch at the moment but it was all she had. Did he also have an Arrancar zanpakuto and if he did, who was it? If Akasha Bloodriver, a person of great power and 'purity', was his shinigami zanpakuto, could his Arrancar zanpakuto be someone also of great power but of darkness and corruption? She'd have to actually meet him to know for sure, but with Akasha being his shinigami zanpakuto that could prove difficult; possibly even dangerous.

Aono's Hollow mask resembled Alucard's head so much that it couldn't be ignored; even Miyabi and the Masked King agreed with her on that one. Harribel had described what his reiatsu felt like, pre-bankai, post-bankai, as well as pre and post-Hollowfication, but that wasn't enough for her to know. A little more than two months ago, the corpse that she had in the Floating Garden lost its eerie feel to it. It was as if Alucard's soul had left the physical body after being in a coma for over five hundred years. If her theory was correct, then she'd need to have Aono captured alive.

Easier said than done; especially with the rate that the boy was growing in strength. He only had shinigami powers for a month and has achieved bankai, Hollowfication, and he wasn't even out of the academy yet. At the rate he was growing, it would be easier to just kill him out right than to try to capture him alive. She groaned in annoyance; she needed a reason to go to Yokai Academy so she could get a feel for his reiatsu. Her personal phone began to ring; when she looked at the caller ID it showed it was Yokai Academy.

"Speak of the devil;" with a smile before answering "hello, this is Shuzen Gyokuro."

"**Shuzen-dono, it's the Head Master of Yokai Academy."**

"To what do I owe the pleasure Mikogami-dono?"

"**I'm afraid there's been an incident and Kokoa was involved. I called Issa yesterday when it first happened."**

"I hadn't heard anything from him in a little over a week; I've been on a business trip for the past few weeks" she lied masterfully.

"**I see. Yesterday it had been discovered that someone had tainted Kokoa's transfusion packs with Hollow blood. It's alright now though, we have found her and she isn't physically harmed. She will be in the best hands I have on campus; I would like to extend an invitation for you to come to the campus and check on her yourself if you would like to."**

"That's a marvelous idea" in a sweet tone "I haven't seen Kokoa or Moka in a while because of work. I'll be a couple more days because of my business trip, but once that's taken care of I'll have my flights redirected to close to Yokai Academy. It'll be nice to see my daughters again."

"**Of course. I would also like to inform you that your other daughter, Kahlua, had been a part of a kidnapping of two of my students as well as been at the Yuki-Onna Village when Aono Tsukune went to rescue them."**

"Oh-dear;" in a faked surprised tone "what has she gotten into? She's a good girl Mikogami-dono; it's that man she's been seeing recently that talked her into it, I swear."

"**I'm not attempting to place the blame, but only to inform you that she had been spotted on my campus preforming illegal acts. Should she do so again I will have no choice but to act against her."**

"I understand. Thank you so much for the phone call, I'll speak to my husband about not forwarding the message to me himself. Have a good day."

"**You too."**

The vampire woman hung up the phone and a dark grin grew on her face. She now had a personal invitation from the Head Master to visit Yokai Academy; it was perfect.

-Kokoa-

The young vampire lay curled in a ball on the twin sized bed, her fists clinched tightly to the sheets that covered the mattress. No one would tell her what had happened while she had been high on Hollow blood. She could remember bits and pieces after she gulped down the stash of transfusion blood in her mini-fridge, but nothing specifically. The only thing she remembered in detail was when Hanataro had laid her on the bed. Her body ached so much she didn't hear him walk out of the room; she remembered the conversation they had though. It was hard not too considering the events that led up to the conversation.

-Flashback-

The sound of metal rubbing against metal reverberated through the room as the door was opened. She could remember the new smell of the room though; it had that overly clean scent of a disinfectant mixed with fresh dried paint, newly done wood floors, and laundry fresh from the dryer. The man with the weird hat had said that the room was designed to not let anyone out without someone on the outside opening the door. The medical shinigami hadn't put her down since they left the ruins, not that she complained, even when she had death gripped his shoulder so hard she thought she fractured something; she felt safe in his arms. Everyone had let Hanataro enter the room alone with her, much to her Onee-sama's disapproval, and he had gently set her down on the chair that was in the corner.

"Shuzen-san," he said softly as the door closed "we know your body will naturally work the Hollow blood out of your system because you're a vampire. But you won't be allowed to have blood of any kind until we're sure it's out of your system."

"My body hurts;" she whimpered "please, just one transfusion pack?"

"I'm sorry Shuzen-san" as he adjusted his top on her shoulders "if you have any blood it could take longer for your body to metabolize the Hollow blood."

In a fit of anger, Kokoa exploded from the chair while grabbing Hanataro's shoulders and shoved him against the wall. She moved her mouth towards Hanataro's neck, she could see his vein throbbing. Her body demanded blood; it hurt every inch of her to be as thirsty as she was.

"I want…" she said in a shaky voice "I want blood."

"Please fight it;" Hanataro said in a somewhat surprised tone "you need to fight it. If you drink any blood it could take longer for you to recover. I…" he wrapped his arms around her "I can't lose anyone else to this. Please…"

Kokoa felt her face heat up from the sudden embrace; even though she was trying to forcedly drink his blood, he was holding her. She pulled back from his neck and rested her head on his chest; yet again, she felt safe. This medic, who just by looking at him looked like he couldn't do anything, was showing almost no fear. She could've drank him dry, and he wasn't pushing her away. No, he was pulling her towards him. She wrapped her own arms around him.

"Who… did you lose?" she asked as she rubbed her head against him.

"Two of the few friends I had in the Shinigami Academy;" as he pulled her closer "there was nothing I could do. Their bodies' couldn't handle the Hollow blood and they died."

She didn't need to see his face to know he was letting silent tears run down it.

"I'm sorry" as tears slowly ran down her face.

"We're working on a way to increase your metabolism so you'll process the Hollow blood faster. It's going to be like breaking an addiction to anything else, your body will go through withdraw and ache; your body will demand blood. But you need to fight it. No matter how thirsty you get, no matter how much you hurt; fight it."

She nodded against his chest and he helped her over to the bed.

-End flashback-

She rubbed her head against the pillow as she thought about how unusually safe the medic would make her feel. While it did come with the job description to have a comfortable feel to him, she couldn't help but to think it was something else that helped her feel so at ease. She wondered why that was; she hardly knew him, had tried to beat the day lights out of him when they first met, and now look at her. She had saved him twice, been awestruck by his courage to run to the frontlines without a useful weapon, used him as a body pillow, and had been carried by him. A blush found her face when she remembered using him as a body pillow; his shoulder was extremely comfortable, just like the romance novels Kahlua always read said.

"Can't believe I was actually that bored that day" as she remembered why she stole the book from her sister to begin with.

Her thoughts turned to when she realized she had a crush on Hanataro. He was different than the suitors that her father tried to make her pick from; he didn't care that she was from a noble vampire family, he'd face a Hollow even though his zanpakuto wouldn't cut anyone, and he never spoke down to her or up to her but as an equal. He was the first person since Moka who would do that and she liked it. Whenever someone would talk down to her, she'd feel like she's being ridiculed; when they'd talk up to her, they were basically just kissing her ass.

The suitors were the worst. Because she was of one of the highest noble families, every suitor from lower classes would brown nose so much she could smell crap on their breath. The few suitors that were from equal or higher classes would talk down to her and piss her off to the point where she'd attack them with Kou. While she might be a late bloomer, she still knew how to scare the living hell out of anyone that pissed her off. Kou could change into any weapon he had seen; katana, bow, battle axe, mace, Morningstar being her personal favorite, and so on. Akua had once described the Bake-bake bat as a one creature armory. She heard the door creak open.

"Kokoa," she heard Moka say as the door closed "how are you feeling?"

"Like shit;" as she sat up "I don't know how this happened."

"Urahara-san seems to think that the Arrancar that Talia and Sora are chasing is involved somehow. We won't know for sure until Urahara-san questions Junya…"

"Who?"

"The one we think poisoned you. I was…" hesitating "I was ready to kill him for what he did. I really wanted to kill him, and that scares me."

"Why didn't you?" curious.

"I don't think you could've ever looked at me the same way again. When we were little you used to idolize me, you still do, but how could you ever have continued to look at me in a positive light if I had killed him? I would've killed him because I chose to and not out of absolute necessity or accident. It would've been just to kill him to try to make myself feel better. What kind of person would I become if I did choose to kill him?

Father always had a slight look of fear in his eyes when he'd look at me. I used to think that it was fear of losing one of us, but after today… what if it was fear of what I could do? I was so willing to kill out of anger" tears began to roll from her eyes "I almost let myself get blinded by anger. If it hadn't been for Yamada-san and the Head Master I probably _would've_ killed him."

"But you didn't!" Kokoa shouted at her "you chose not to. Why would you think that father would look at you with fear?"

"Mother had told me that she had to inject me with some of her blood when I was a baby, which had passed Shinso blood on to me;" the older vampire said "lately I've felt stronger than in the past. I haven't done any serious training, but I'm getting stronger. What if I were to lose control of the Shinso blood in me and I…"

"Then learn to control it! You…"

Kokoa collapsed onto the bed again from the lack of strength; Moka quickly went to check on her.

"You're not a mindless beast;" Kokoa said weakly "you're a kind person. You might have the power of a Shinso, but it's still dormant; you can still control it before it controls you. That Zangetsu guy, your mother taught him how to tap into the power in his blood; ask him to teach you how to do it too."

"You've always forced yourself to be so grown up;" Moka said softly as she rubbed her sister's head "you always hated being the youngest of us. You'd push yourself harder than even Akua would while training because of that; more so when your strength didn't increase when you turned ten. I remember the disappointed look father gave you."

"But you weren't there when he tried to force an arranged marriage on me;" Kokoa said in a sad tone "every dickwad we've ever met from other noble houses, even a few we hadn't, had lined up to try to make a deal with father. Losers from all over were in and out of the mansion almost every day till I started tormenting your outer self when you were sealed away. That was part of the reason I chased after you. I was sick of dealing with them."

"I'm sure. The Head Master said that your mother would be here in a couple days after she's done with a business trip."

Kokoa just let out a groan; that was definitely someone she had thought she managed to get away from. Her mother always treated her differently than the way she treated Kahlua. Kahlua always got the fancy toys, best tutors, expensive dresses, and Kokoa had been stuck with the lousy things. She didn't even get a tutor when she told her mother that she needed help understanding some of the material she had to learn. Even her own mother treated her like a third rate vampire; just one more reason she hated living in that mansion.

"You know what would really piss off father?" seeing Kokoa needed a distraction.

"What?"

"Tell him you picked Yamada-san as your future husband."

"I don't like him like that!" as she tried to push Moka off the bed but failed.

'_I doubt that'_ Moka thought.

"I know," the silver haired vampire said "but you know how little father thinks of medics. Always calling them worthless and good for nothing."

Kokoa thought about it for a second; Moka was right. Their father despised medics with a passion and would never speak to anyone that was one. If she were to show up to the mansion with Hanataro to tell her father that she wanted to marry him, her father would lose it. He'd go on a blind killing spree out of anger and only a few would be able to stop him. The mental image of her father's furious face made her burst into a fit of laughter; in no time Moka had joined in. The two leaned on each other to keep from rolling off the bed.

"I…" Kokoa said "I can't… I can't breathe!"

"I don't think anyone would be able to stop father" Moka laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye.

The door creaked open again and Hanataro entered with a plate of food for Kokoa to have for dinner. The two vampires looked at the shinigami medic and laughed even harder as he set the plate down on the dresser.

"Is everything ok?" Hanataro asked with concern.

Kokoa rolled off the bed as she laughed at the thought of Hanataro having to run from her angry father. Compared to that, she was sure he'd prefer to have to run from her for the rest of his life. Her father would do everything he could to brutally mane him in an attempt to make sure she showed no interest in a medic.

"Shuzen-san…" ash he quickly went to check on her "are you alright?"

"I'm fine;" still laughing "I just… thought… of something funny."

"If we need anything we'll let you know Yamada-san" Moka said as she helped her sister up.

Hanataro nodded and left; although greatly confused about what had just happened. He didn't want to interrupt their bonding though; Kokoa had mentioned that she and Moka hadn't spent time outside of lunch and training together.

Moka and Kokoa eventually settled down from their laughing fit and Kokoa began to eat the dinner that Hanataro had brought to her. The sisters talked for what felt like hours in the room that had been made for Kokoa to detox in. Moka was finally able to sit down and just talk about random things with her sister; with everything that had been happening lately it felt really good. Being able to actually forget about what was on the other side of the door to the room and have it be just the two of them.

"Once you're cured we should have everyone get together and have a sleepover;" Moka said as she rubbed Kokoa's head "we can braid each other's hair, do makeovers, and play games. Like when we were younger."

Kokoa thought about it; it had been a long time since she just had that kind of fun. Every bit of fun she's had since leaving the mansion has been from tormenting Moka's outer self, training, or actually fighting. Not from actual interaction.

"Sounds like it'd be fun" Kokoa admitted.

Moka ruffled her little sister's hair and noticed her blonde roots were showing.

"The usual color?"

"Yea, it's at that point again; it gets irritating having to dye the roots again after only a couple weeks."

Moka nodded; she didn't need to ask why Kokoa dyed her hair. She already knew the answer to that. Gyokuro never really treated Kokoa like a proper daughter and that had hurt the younger vampire in a way worse than anyone could've imagined. It only got worse when it was discovered Kokoa was a late bloomer; hardly anyone in the mansion ever looked at her with any respect when they found out except for her and her sisters. It was a way to try to separate herself from Gyokuro.

"Alright," looking at the time "I should probably get going. I'll bring the hair color by in the morning."

"It was nice to be able to talk like this;" looking at her sister "we should do this more often."

"Definitely."

-Kisuke, Hanataro, and Nemu-

The trio flipped through various medical books and were trying to find the best solution to make sure Kokoa didn't immediately relapse when they let her out of the room. Nemu had found a couple drugs that human rehab centers used to help patients break their additions, but was reminded that this wasn't a human illegal drug; it was Hollow blood, but they kept the suggestion in mind as they kept looking. Hanataro had given up on modern medicine and decided to turn his attention to possible herbal treatments. A concoction of herbs that could stimulate the kidneys and liver would help get the Hollow blood out of her system.

He knew that vampires' body processed blood through the kidneys and livers functioned in a similar manner to humans'. The only difference was that while a human kidney and liver filtered the blood like a pool filter, a vampire's kidney and liver was more like a loose mesh. Their digestive tracts functioned vastly different from a human's in the way that it allowed them to absorb blood. Like humans, nutrients were absorbed in the small intestine but with some differences that allowed blood that had been consumed to be absorbed; however, without preforming a medical procedure he couldn't be sure exactly how. He was going to have to be careful when picking out the herbs; because vampires needed a certain mixture of other herbs to touch water already, there was a chance that the effects of combining the extra herbs could have negative effects.

The medic rubbed his eyes as he pulled his bag towards him and began to dig through it. He could feel his body wanting to shut down for sleep, but he couldn't let that happen; he had to keep looking for a combination of herbs that would help Kokoa. His hand gripped the bottle he was looking for and pulled it out. Shaking a pill from the container, he looked at the skull insignia on it and remembered when his taichou told him she had caught some people from the Eleventh Division trying to swap the pills out for a flour placebo pill. Apparently this had been a common prank from some of the Eleventh Division; before he had a chance to tell her it was no big deal she had said she already informed Zaraki-taichou. As he swallowed the pill he thought of how bad things could get as a result of this. At least he was the only one being targeted by pranks and bullying like that.

He flipped the page of the book and began to write down a list of herbs that would stimulate the kidneys and liver. Herbs have been used as medicine for the longest time and the answer could most likely be found in the book he was reading; on the flip side of that though, herbs have also been used as poisons because many herbs had properties that both helped and harmed the body. It was going to be a little difficult making sure he didn't combine herbs that could accidently make Kokoa's condition worse than it already was. That task was going to be even harder considering he had a list of mandatory herbs before even starting.

"This is going to be a long night" as he looked at the screen that had been set up to observe Kokoa.

-Talia and Sora-

Talia watched as Sora was being given a final check by Orihime; she was glad that her childhood friend was alright. For the longest time, he had always been the one that kept her out of trouble. It was nice to be able to return the favor. Ever since she and Sora had come back in time, she was beginning to understand why Yuuma would accuse her of having a crush on the Kurosaki boy. They had grown up together and knew each other better than anyone would believe, or at least say out loud, and even the sou-taichou said he believed it was only a matter of time before the two ended up together. If the sou-taichou had said it, it had to be something that was painfully obvious.

"Will he be ok?" she asked.

"Yes;" Orihime answered "he only suffered from blood loss and a couple injured ribs. I wish you would've brought him straight to me instead of taking him all the way back to his gigai."

"Sorry;" she half lied as she looked to the ground "I just wanted to make sure he was alright and rushed out without thinking."

"Judging by how casually you're apologizing, it's a normal thing for you to let your emotions get the better of you" Soifon said coldly.

Sora's eyes widened a bit when the petite woman finished her sentence. He knew what was about to happen.

"Excuse me for giving a fucking shit about my childhood friend;" Talia nearly shouted "I'm sorry I'm not able to lock away my feelings in a damn box like you. I'm sorry I'm not amounting to what everyone seems to think I should be able to. I'm sorry I only just recently got my zanpakuto. I'm sorry I'm not naturally gifted like Tsukune and don't already have shikai. And I'm sorry that I'm such a disappointment when compared to everyone else!"

Talia barely finished her sentence before she shunpo out of the room and was long gone; leaving everyone just staring into space from confusion. Soifon seemed to be the worst off of the group. Sora figured he should say something.

"Tsukune's her twin brother;" knowing what they'd ask first "when they were eleven he had gotten his zanpakuto, but Talia didn't. Growing up they had tutors, but Talia always seemed to struggle with just about everything while Tsukune understood everything easily. Some say that he's a prodigy and will be a taichou in no time, but also say that Talia won't amount to much.

She used to look up to you, idolize you;" looking at Soifon "so much so that she used to have her hair styled like yours. She'd train for hours a day in Hakuda and kido to the point where her brother would have to carry her home when he managed to find her; she used to say that she wanted to be like you. For a while no one would ever have thought anything of it. That changed after Tsukune got his zanpakuto though. Everyone looked at her differently; like she was nothing compared to him. At first she didn't let it bother her, but a couple years later when Tsukune achieved shikai… she began to believe that even you would look at her like that.

I was with her when she cut her once long hair down to a style like Tatsuki's hair in this time. She even kicked me in the balls when I tried to stop her. It's usually best to just let her cool off a little before trying to find her. I'll go and talk to her;" as Orihime recalled her fairies.

Sora lazily walked out of the room they were in. While this wasn't their time, he had an idea about where to find his friend; either the bus stop overlooking the fake ocean, the highest point that was in the area, or in his room. If this were their time, and in the Seireitei, he would just look at the former execution grounds; she always said there was something about being able to look out and see everything that calmed her. As he walked to the roof he couldn't help but to feel like he's gotten a lot closer to his friend since they came here. More so considering that they had made up from what happened six months ago.

"Not too surprised" as he opened the door to the roof and saw no one there.

Eventually he found her sitting on a branch of a tree at the bus stop looking out at the crimson colored ocean.

"Mind if I come up?" he asked her.

"Do whatever" Talia said softly.

He quickly got up to the branch she was sitting on and just sat next to her. He knew better than to try to make her talk about; that usually ended with her just becoming more reserved. Her eyes were slightly red and looked like she had been crying for a short while. He gently put his arm over her shoulder and let her rest against him; he didn't like when she got like this. If she kept being like this, he knew it would only be a matter of time before she did something drastic that she'd regret. She'd already faked running away from home a number of times after something happened at home; which is usually why she'd end up at his house, to hide for a couple days.

Of course, her mother always knew where to look and would ask Ichigo if she could stay for a couple days so Talia could cool off; living in the big house they lived in it was never a problem. After about a day, Orihime would be the one to break the ice on figuring out what happened. Arguments, that was her usual answer and she'd say she didn't want to talk about it yet. A day or so after that she'd open up about it and give them details about what it was about.

"I should've bleached my hair;" Talia said breaking the silence.

"I'm glad you didn't;" looking at her "I like it the way it is" as he gently played with a couple strands.

"Are you trying to talk me into or out of doing it?" as she fought a blush.

"Just take the frickin complement;" he groaned "damn."

"You're too much like your dad's hollow sometimes;" with a pout "it gets annoying."

"I could be exactly like Hichigo; battle obsessed and sex crazy."

"I don't think I would be able to tolerate you then" as she pushed away from him.

Taking the opportunity that had just presented itself, he quickly jerked Talia back towards him and pressed her against his body.

"You know you'd like it" he husked into her ear with a grin "all this. Just. For. You. Why else would you constantly sneak into my room?"

Talia fought the blush she felt creeping up her face. His words would seem creepy if someone were to just read it, but the tone he said it in; it felt like it was melting her very core. It was a sweet tone laced with the perfect level of perversion that would seem to be able to make anyone weak in the knees. The tone made it seem like it was both an innocent question, and one that questioned where they stood on their friendship. And now that the question had been asked, she was questioning where they stood.

She remembered the first memory she had of meeting him; she was a little older than three and her mother had taken her and her brother to the world of the living. Originally it had been to spend time with her aunt, but along the way they ran into the Kurosaki family. They went to the park after too long where they met up with Chad and the others. While her brother and the other kids went to run around the playground and swing set, she had gone to the sandbox and started trying to sculpt a sand sculpture but it kept collapsing. When she finally managed to get it to stand, some random kids decided to kick it down; that was the first time Sora helped her. Of course, after the bullies left she had pushed him down and said she could've handled it herself.

Over the next decade they became good friends and he usually always helped her get out of trouble. Was that really all he was; the friend that got her out of trouble? Or was there some other reason he was always there? Why did she always find a need to run to him after she had an argument with her mother?

"Stop teasing" she said as she looked away from him to stop her from thinking like that.

"Alright," in his normal voice again as he gently turned her head back to him "but I'm being serious; I think you're beautiful the way you are."

Talia couldn't hide her blush any longer and it showed. As Sora slowly inched closer to her, a small fear gripped her and she panicked. Her body acted on instinct and she pushed him; which caused the two of them to fall out of the tree and to the ground. Sora hit the ground hard and Talia ended up landing on top of him. The girl cursed at herself as she realized she had just ruined a moment between the two of them.

"Sorry" as she shrunk away from him.

"It's alright;" with a sigh "you know… you shouldn't just explode like that. You know that she has no clue who you are yet and you just blow up like that?"

"It was force of habit."

"Then change that habit; it's not healthy to do that every time someone challenges what you do. How do you think I would be if I just went off like that every time someone challenged what I did? I'd probably gotten expelled from school after a month. I'm not saying to just lie in order to try to smooth things over, but you need to keep a level head. Try taking a deep breath and thinking about what you're about to say."

"You sound like your mother."

"Whatever works" as he put his hand on the center of her back.

"Can we hang out here for a while?" as she looked him in the eyes

"I haven't asked you to get up yet; have I?" with a smile.

-Hanataro-

The medic rubbed his eyes for the… whatever time it was; he had stopped counting long ago. Having his nose in a book for so long was tiring him out more than he thought it would. A triple shift at the Fourth Division Head Quarters after the Eleventh had their annual melee sounded easier at the moment. He was thankful that Urahara had kept looking into modern day medicine instead of trying to help him look into herbs as well; the list of herbs was limited, but the list of modern day medicine could go for miles. If Nemu were to try to tackle that on her own, an answer would never be found to help Kokoa. The sooner the found a way to help Kokoa the better.

He turned his attention to the screen to check on Kokoa; it seemed like she was asleep still, but her fists were clinched tightly on the sheets that covered her. She was in pain and there was little he could do to try to ease it. He had considered using a drop of Shinten to see if that would help any, but decided that it could very well end up backfiring because of how unstable Kokoa's reiatsu was at the moment. His thoughts were forced to a halt when he saw Kokoa get flung against the wall for no apparent reason.

"Urahara-san, Nemu-fuku-taichou" he called out as he ran down to the room "something's happening!"

When the trio opened the door, they saw the young vampire get thrown to a different wall. Kokoa cried out in pain as she crashed against the mirror and was thrown yet again. The three grabbed her and pinned her to the ground, but that didn't last long; they were forced off as she was sent flying towards the bathroom door. Hanataro grabbed her around the waist and held on as tight as he could. Kokoa threw her head back so hard that it dented the metal wall just before she snapped her head forward, head-butting Hanataro in the eye. She cried in pain again; Hanataro knew that if this kept up she could end up biting into her tongue so harshly that she'd be at risk of bleeding to death. Not seeing any other way to keep her from doing that, he put the edge of his hand in her mouth, palm side up, just as she was about to bite down again. Her fangs pierced his skin like it was nothing and he felt the sharp pain quickly radiate from the origin and up his arm. In only a matter of seconds, he felt Kokoa beginning to suck on where she had bitten into.

As she sucked, she gradually fell to the floor and into his arms. He quickly got behind her and held her close as she drank from his hand; while it might cause her to take longer to detox, it was keeping her from being thrown around. The medic carefully lowered the two of them to the floor as Kokoa's teeth seemed to grip his hand tighter. He looked up to Kisuke and Nemu, hoping that they could make sense of what had just happened. But the two seemed to be just as lost as him; this hadn't happened with Junya and there was no immediate, obvious, reason for this to happen.

"You might need to stay in here with her;" Kisuke suggested "it seems like your blood calmed whatever that was down."

"For now" Hanataro added.

"That was good thinking" Nemu said "it kept her from biting into her own tongue and gave her blood. Maybe she needs to drink fresh, clean blood to help clean the Hollow blood from her body?"

"Looks like she might like more than just your blood" Urahara chuckled as Kokoa rubbed her head against Hanataro's shoulder.

Hanataro didn't say anything as he looked at the vampire in his arms; he now had a little more information on how to save her. She needed fresh blood that was also clean, and apparently his blood fit the bill. If it helped her recover from this, he didn't care how much she needed, he'd give it to her; he had plenty of blood replenishing pills with him.


	47. Chapter 47

Kokoa's eyes opened and she could see a barren wasteland; crumbled stones, lifeless trees, and darkened water. She wondered how she had gotten to the strange wasteland and who had brought her to it. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the bed after Moka had left; it had been hard to get to sleep with the annoying ache that had assaulted her body. The only way she could've described it was a horde of mosquitos after a week of rain, you could shoo them away but they'd come right back in a matter of seconds. She stood up from where she had been laying and found that her scrubs were clean even after laying on the death covered ground.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked herself.

There was no answer, not that she was expecting one. It didn't look like anything could survive in this forsaken landscape; if something had, it would be barely clinging to life and willing to do anything to escape. She carefully walked through the area and could see just how badly damaged it was. What looked like trees had rotted from the inside out, would-be strong boulders looked as though they would crumble with a simple gust of wind, dead patches of grass that made a disturbing crunch as she stepped on them, and the water looked so tainted by poison that not even someone about to die of dehydration would even consider drinking it. This was truly a god forsaken place.

She didn't get too far before she saw something out of the corner of her eye; her head quickly snapped towards where she had saw it. She barely saw the small white thing that had quickly ducked behind one of the rotting trees. As she peered around the tree she could see the small white thing appeared to be a robot toy of some kind. It began to shake as she raised an eyebrow at it and backed away from her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you;" she said as she walked over to it "where am I?"

The robot didn't answer; instead it ran away from her, its small metal feet crushing the dead grass underneath it with each step. She chased after it, hoping to be able to get some sort of answers. As she pursued it, the scenery gradually became more life filled; the once dead grass was becoming a dull green and eventually lush, the trees didn't look rotted out and became full, and the water became cleaner as she chased after the toy as well. She came to a complete stop to take in the new surroundings and was awestruck at the change. Unable to believe the drastic change, she looked back and could see the barren wasteland that she had come from. It really happened; the wasteland became a bountiful garden in no time.

A tree to her left had rose vines entwined along trunk and branches that were blooming with light and dark pink rose buds with gentian at its base. She looked to her feet and saw forget-me-nots only inches from where she had stopped; she had nearly crushed something that someone had obviously worked so hard to take care of. Taking note to mind her footing, she began to explore this new area. Lush plants greeted her every turn, plants and flowers she could both name and not name made beautiful scenery that could take anyone's breath away with every turn. Certain plants seemed to be in greater health than others, so much so that they practically exploded with color; a hawthorn bush, eucalyptus, a strawberry bush with fennel growing right next to it, and dandelions were a few of the plants she could identify.

Eventually she found herself at what looked to be an observation point that had stairs leading to the overlook. She climbed to the top and her eyes shook at what they saw; an endless garden that had gears and gyros turning at certain points, above her was what looked to be a fake sun being powered by some power lines feeding into it, certain areas had metal walls that reached up twenty feet and were covered in vegetation, and it all seemed to complement each other.

"But this…" in disbelief "is impossible… How can a garden like this be so close to that wasteland? Never mind that, how can a garden exist along functioning machinery like this? Just where the hell am I?"

She looked down and saw the toy robot again. She ran down the stairs and chased after it yet again, hoping to catch it finally and get some answers; this place made no sense and yet she couldn't help but to admire it. She rounded a corner and nearly tripped over a small gear as it rotated. Berating herself to be more careful, she refused to slow down at all; the small toy was almost within grabbing distance. The toy turned suddenly into a crack in a wall and got away from her again. Growling as she got down to look into the crack in an attempt to locate the toy again, she saw a small sapling growing with blue periwinkle blooming at its base.

The young vampire got up off the ground and looked for a way around the wall; she was curious about what this one was. As she looked, she noticed a couple withered plants with a circle of forget-me-nots around them; it struck her as strange considering the state of everything else in the massive garden around her. Everything was lush and green, but these couple plants were withered and dead.

Her attention was turned away from those plants as she finally found a way around the wall. She followed the wall down to where the crack the toy had used and looked at the sapling that was growing. The leaves seemed to be rather large considering the small size of the trunk and were an oval shape. She scratched her head as she tried to figure out what kind of plant it was.

"I should know this one;" she said angrily as she looked at it closely "it's a…" not believing it for a second "cocoa tree?"

Just what the hell was a tropical plant doing in a garden like this? Sure she had seen plants that looked like they were from just about everywhere around the world, but a cocoa tree? It didn't make any sense.

"Then again…" thinking about where she was "this entire place doesn't make sense. What the fuck is going on?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to figure it out.

"I went to sleep at Yokai Academy;" she began "before that though, I was high on Hollow blood. So this could just be a hallucination or a vivid dream; that's the only thing that makes sense right now."

She sighed as she looked at the sapling; it was small and frail, like her depending on who you asked, and needed some love to grow. A small tear rolled down her face as she began to think on that comparison. Her mother never really loved her, at least not in the same way she loved Kahlua, and that was why she clung to Moka so much; the silver haired vampire actually cared about her and would help her when no one else would. Like the tree, she was in need of love in order to grow; she fell to her knees. All her life she had been nothing but a disappointment to her mother and father despite her every attempt to be something other than that. It was Moka's mother that showed her any sort of motherly love when her own wouldn't do so. Why; why was it that Akasha had shown her more motherly love than her own mother?

It was Akasha that would praise her for doing the best she could with a loving smile and her mother who would berate her and say she should've done better. No matter how hard she tried, it was never good enough for her mother. And every time Moka would try to defend her, her mother would talk down to the both of them. Any time she got hurt, training or goofing off, her mother would tell her to toughen up and deal with it while Akasha would tend to the wound and ask her to be more careful so she wouldn't have to worry so much. The dam broke and she began to cry.

"Why is it so hard to please you mother?" she cried.

She felt something poke her side and when she looked she saw the toy she had been chasing. It cautiously gave her a tissue that it had gotten from somewhere and hugged her arm as she wiped her eyes. As she finished wiping her eyes, the toy pointed to a watering jug sitting on a gardening bench. Taking the hint, the vampire stood up and went to pick up the jug. She had never really cared for gardening, something about the thought of having to tend to something every single day annoyed her; the main reason though was that she could accidentally spill water on herself.

She carefully poured the water onto the sapling and watched as the baby tree drank up the water. A smile grew on her face as she gave the plant a little more water; she knew she had to be careful with how much she gave it because she knew a plant could drown. This simple little act made her feel good for some reason as she watched the toy clapped, what she guessed were, its hands. A laugh escaped her as she watched the toy jump up and down before falling over its own feet. She rushed to check on it, but suddenly discovered she was back in her bed at Yokai Academy.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed Hanataro sitting on the chair close to her bed; his eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep. She sat up a little and saw that he had a stack of books set next to the chair and a paper pad under his hand which held a pencil. It looked like he had been taking notes on something, but she didn't want to get out of the bed to see what it was. He seemed to have a peaceful look on his face as he took steady breaths. When she looked around, she saw the broken mirror and dent next to the bathroom door. The clock that was on the night stand next to the bed read a little after two in the morning.

"What the hell happened?" she asked.

Hanataro took a deep breath and woke up; his eyes looked as though they were trying to hide just how tired he really was. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Kokoa.

"Shuzen-san" with a small smile "you're awake."

"What happened there?" pointing at the damage to the room.

"You were flung around;" looking down "we think that it's a withdraw symptom from the Hollow blood. It didn't stop until you drank some of my blood."

"I…" with worry clearly in her voice "I drank from you by…"

"No," he interrupted "I used my hand to keep you from biting your tongue. Once I started bleeding you began sucking it and you stopped getting flung around. You didn't forcibly drink my blood; I pretty much forced you to drink my blood."

"I'm sorry" looking down in shame "I can't even contro…"

"It wasn't your fault" he interrupted again but with a stronger tone "we had no idea it would happen. You didn't drink Hollow blood by choice. You have nothing to be sorry about; the Hollow blood was being used on you by Junya to see if it would've been safe for him to use on himself. If anyone should be sorry about this it needs to be him."

Kokoa just continued to look at the edge of the bed she was sitting on; while she had tried to blame herself, Hanataro refused to let her. His words weren't harsh at all, and were true. It was someone else who had practically forced her to drink the Hollow blood to begin with; after that she had basically blacked out.

"I'm sorry Shuzen-san…"

"Kokoa" she interrupted in a meek tone.

"Huh?"

"As long as we're in private…" with a small blush "call me Kokoa-san."

"Ok, Kokoa-san" with a small blush of his own "I didn't mean to sound…"

"You didn't. Thanks for saying it though. Why don't you take a break from… what are you doing anyways?"

"Looking at possible herbs that could help you detox faster; I haven't been able to narrow the list down very much though. From the look of it, every herb that could help will be counter acted by the herbs you'd have to use just to be able to drink the tea. I hope Urahara-san and Nemu-fuku-taichou are having better luck than me."

"You look like you need to take break; when was the last time you got any real sleep?"

"I'll be fine;" as he picked up a new book "I need to find the right…"

"Don't make me get out of this bed" she threatened with a weak growl.

"Alright;" as he put the book down and settled into the chair a little better "if you need anything let me know."

"Could you" her blush returning "maybe… get into bed with me?"

"Wha…?" confused about what Kokoa was asking.

"LIKE HOW WE WERE AT THE INFIRMARY!" clarifying what she meant in an embarrassed panic.

"Oh…" remembering how comfortable they were then "sure."

The medic got up from the chair and settled into the bed next to Kokoa, who used his shoulder as a pillow again as she cuddled against him. Just like last time, she was in a spot that was more comfortable than any pillow could ever offer. A smile adorned her face as she rubbed her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arm over his chest; the smile became an embarrassed blush as Hanataro softly put his hand just above her waist. That feeling was back yet again. The feeling of true safety; she liked it.

-Urahara and Nemu-

The two had watched the entire scene that had just unfolded from the monitor. A smile was on Urahara's face as he remembered how the young medic had told him how the two on the screen met. She had saved him from a weird dog thing, only to begin chasing after him herself when he told her who he was looking for. He gave it about a year before the two would become a couple.

"I'm sure Unohana would love to know about this;" as he took a still frame and had it printed.

Nemu took note of this and made a mental note to bring it up at the next shinigami women's association meeting. This would make for a good article in the magazine they had been thinking about doing. Yachiru was going to eat this up and find a way to ensure that it was included if they did the magazine. In the Seireitei, Tsukune had been a rather hot topic for conversations and gossip; an interview with him would guarantee the magazine would take off. Ichigo's new relationship status with Orihime would also be the talk of the Seireitei for a while too.

"Why don't you give this to Unohana the next time you see her?" Kisuke asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, that would be a good idea" she said.

"Let's call it a night;" as he got up and stretched his arms "want to start back up at eight?"

"Sounds reasonable" in her usual monotone.

-morning-

Nemu walked the grounds looking for the silver haired vampire to inform her of what transpired during the night after she had left. She didn't like having to deliver the news, but since Hanataro was still out cold she was the one that needed to do it. Even while she kept a neutral expression on her face, she could hear several of the students complementing her to their friends. After another few minutes of looking, she located Moka.

"Akashiya-san;" with a small bow "I need to inform you of an incident that occurred last night."

"What happened?" the worry clear in her eyes.

"It seems that the withdraw from the Hollow blood is harder on the body than we originally thought. Your sister is fine now, but during the night she had been flung around; this only happened for a couple minutes and had been noticed the moment it began thanks to Yamada-san. He stayed the night in the room with her just in case it happened again."

"But… she's ok?"

"Yes;" as she pulled out the still frame that Kisuke had printed out "this is from a little after two in the morning. Urahara-san seems to think they're becoming great friends."

Moka looked at the picture and smiled; Kokoa was clinging to someone other than her, and for some reason she was ok with it. It probably helped that the person she was clinging to was a person that everyone said was kind. She noticed the smile on Kokoa's face and couldn't help but to have her smile get a little warmer.

"Do not take this the wrong way," Nemu said "but I believe this incident has been good for Yamada-san."

"What do you mean?" keeping herself from getting upset at the comment.

"As I said the other day; this isn't the first time we've dealt with someone having Hollow blood forced into them. Twenty three years ago my father forcibly injected a number of shinigami with Hollow blood in an experiment to see if shinigami could become stronger without undergoing full Hollowfication like the Vizoreds. Of those shinigami, a couple of them were his friends; when he discovered this, he had a mental collapse and had to be removed from the team doing the autopsies. When he recovered he never mentioned what had happened, or his friends again. He never truly faced the incident that had happened twenty three years ago. When he learned that he had a chance to save your sister, he forced himself to face it. From this, I can be drawn to the conclusion that this unfortunate event will have an incredible outcome. If not only from Yamada-san, but your sister as well.

In a short time he has learned a considerable amount about the physiological structure of your species. By being forced to face what had happened, he has expanded his knowledge of the body. As the Soul Society contains the souls of both humans and Yokai, it is natural that there are Yokai among the shinigami ranks; one of which is currently a taichou. Now that he has begun to study the physiological differences between a human body and a vampire body, he will eventually begin to study the differences from every species. As he does so, he will need to learn to adjust Kaido to compensate; which will in turn give him better reiatsu control as well as increase his reiatsu. Once he does this, it will only be a matter of time before the only person who will know more about Yokai physiology will be Unohana-taichou.

Yamada-san told me about what happened when he first put your sister in the room Urahara-san made. She resisted the urge to drink his blood and hasn't complained about the pain she is clearly in once. She is strong; stronger than normal when you consider she had been poisoned with Hollow blood and is handling the withdraw symptoms so well. I don't know a lot about vampire physiology, but Yamada-san mentioned that your species goes through a form of growth spurt for your physical strength?"

"Yes" Moka answered "it usually happens around the age of ten now-and-days."

"I know for humans, to undergo a growth spurt at a young age has negative long term health effects. Increased risk of certain cancers, possible heart disease, bowed legs because the muscles didn't grow at the same rate as the bone, and so on. It was mentioned that your sister hadn't gone through this growth spurt yet; it's possible that it is a good thing. If her physical strength were to be naturally increased, wouldn't it make sense that it'd be better for it to happen later? It would allow her to gain more fighting experience, build a better foundation for her pre-growth spurt strength, and she'd have time to learn about other things about a vampire's body. Once she begins the growth spurt, having such a strong foundation of physical strength already, her post-growth spurt strength would be far greater. Not to mention that it could very well be easier for her to learn various abilities that vampires are capable of."

"You're giving a full medical and scientific backing to the argument that being a late bloomer is a good thing, while being an 'early bird' is a bad thing?"

"If that is how you wish to interpret it, then yes."

Moka couldn't help herself as she gave the fuku-taichou a hug.

"This is the first time anyone's ever made an attempt to look at her being a late bloomer as a good thing;" tears rolling down her face "once you get more information on it, could you put it in writing?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. I believe that Yamada-san will be better suited for the task though as he has more medical knowledge than I. Am I supposed to hug you back?"

-Akua-

The granddaughter of Alucard laid sprawled out on her temporary bed in a humorous way and snored lightly; this had become her routine lately. Now that she didn't have to be up every morning to deal with the crap of being head of the Zero Squad, she could sleep in without freaking out the moment she woke up. She had gradually eaten more and more junk food as well, something she berated herself for doing every time she did it. At the rate she was going, it was only a matter of time before she became completely out of shape; that time could only be a couple of months too. Light peered in through the cracked shades of the window.

"Fuck you sun" she groaned as she rolled over and put the pillow over her head.

There was a loud knocking at the door.

"This better be important" she grumbled as she got out of bed and fixed her top as she went to the door "yea?"

"Good morning Akua-san" Rukia greeted her with a small laugh seeing the sleep still in her eyes "sleeping in again?"

"For the first time since… ever;" with a genuinely happy, but sleepy, smile "and I'm enjoying it."

"I'm sure;" with another laugh "I've been tasked with escorting you around today."

"Huh…? Oh yea," remembering what happened "the sou-taichou wants me supervised at all times until further notice. Makes since considering my past. Come in" as she led the slightly smaller woman into her room.

"I take it you're going to want to see Aono-san again today?"

"Yes," bluntly "he's someone that is hard to figure out."

"How so?"

Akua and Rukia had gotten along extremely well since Akua had basically moved into the Thirteenth Division, although the living arrangement was only temporary. The vampire hadn't been surprised to find out that Rukia was actually a little over a century old; Issa was over five hundred and barely looked to be in his forties. She had laughed when Rukia told her about how Ichigo had reacted when she told him she was nearly ten times older than him. Through their various talks, she had come to trust the female shinigami a great deal; as well as Ukitake-taichou, who had been treating her less like a person in need and more of a friend staying for a while.

"From personal experience;" as she removed her night clothes and began to get dressed "I stood in his path while at the yuki-ona village, but he held back against me because of the fact that I'm his friend's sister. Even when I asked him to kill me, he refused; even tried to avenge my death by the hands of Fujisaki Miyabi."

"He sounds a lot like Ichigo" the shinigami chuckled.

"The scary part of it was," looking back at her "he didn't even realize that the cross around his neck acts as a limiter."

"I thought you said that crosses don't affect vampires like in the movies."

"They don't, but when created with the specific intent on concealing one's true power they naturally suppress a vampire's strength. I never bothered with one because of my line of work; I couldn't risk being caught off guard and having to take the time to remove it in the middle of a fight. Anyway, he just seems like he's a bit of an oxymoron. He charged head first into enemy territory, but didn't have the intent on killing anyone. Knew that both Kahlua and I wouldn't have held back against him, but he held back against us. Had the intention of defeating us without killing, and became angry when Fujisaki killed me. I don't understand it. Then again" with a sigh "he was a human at a school full of Yokai."

"I haven't actually met him myself other than when you talked to him. Renji seems to think he's a good guy though. He even gets along with Ikkaku, something that isn't exactly heard of outside of the Eleventh Division."

"You should've seen it though;" reflecting on Tsukune's fights "even with his back to the wall, he kept his cool. Only showing emotion when he had too, and after I was killed. When he crossed blades with Fujisaki, the entire palace trembled when their ceros met. He only ever used as much power as necessary; it was kind of frightening to witness. I've never seen two people with powers such as that fight before;" she unconsciously licked her lips "it was… exciting."

"Ok…" kind of creped out.

"You've never just lost control of your instincts after a good spar?"

"What do you mean by 'lost control of my instincts'?"

"Get so high on endorphins and adrenaline that you just, you know, have sex."

"WHA! No! I've never done that, in any way shape or form."

"I thought with how you talked about that Renji guy you two had…"

"No, Nii-sama would kill him."

"So that's all that's keeping it from happening?"

Rukia's face heated up a great deal at the question; it wasn't that she hadn't thought about dating her longtime friend, but with him being her brother's fuku-taichou it could get weird for him. There had even been a couple instances recently where they could've done the deed, but kept from following through.

"Ready" Akua said as she headed towards the door.

-Yoruichi-

The feline like former shinigami watched her former pupil from a boulder; she wasn't training, she was just sitting alone to her thoughts. A smile would've been on her face had it not been for the fact that Soifon was usually good at telling when she was around. The petite woman had something on her mind and Yoruichi could take a guess as to what it was; she had been torn between following orders and protecting Tsukune, and she chose to follow orders. While she was sure that if Tsukune would've put up a fight Soifon would've gone to his side, but because he went willingly it made the choice easy for her.

She remembered the moment Tsukune went with Byakuya, Kenpachi and Toshiro; the brown haired boy didn't look back to his friends or sister. The question she had been wondering since then was 'why'. Was it to keep his friends from having false hope; she figured he went willingly to keep his friends from getting hurt. If he had decided to look back at them they could've gotten the impression that they could save him. The only one of his friends that might be able to face a seated officer would be the silver haired girl; there was one deciding factor though, experience. It was the same deciding factor when Ichigo fought Byakuya. In their first fight, Ichigo lacked the experience necessary to even come close to matching the noble; once Ichigo trained with Kisuke that gap began to close, even more after Ichigo obtained bankai.

Yoruichi sighed; she'd had enough of watching her pupil just sit there being quiet and shunpo over to Soifon.

"Penny for your thoughts" with a grin.

"Y-Y-Yoruichi-sama?" caught completely off-guard.

"The one and only;" as she sat down next to Soifon "what's on your mind? Is it Tsukune?"

"Yes" with a blush.

Soifon knew there was no point in trying to hide it from Yoruichi. To her, Soifon was an open book no matter how hard she tried to hide anything; if it was on her mind, the Goddess of the Flash knew about it.

"Come on; talk to me" as Yoruichi wrapped her arm over Soifon's shoulder.

"He's sweet;" she started "he just has that feel to him that makes me _want_ to open up. His dedication to those he considers his friends is…" a smile grew on her lips "I don't think I could find a word that would describe it without it being insulting to him. He's died for them; that's the only phrase I can say to help anyone get an idea of it. Even when he didn't have his memories, he was wanting to learn more about them. He told me that when he was alive, he was the one that always had to be protected because he was a human surrounded by Yokai. I think that might be why he's always training to get stronger; so he no longer has to be that person. The one that needs to be protected."

"Everyone has their reasons for wanting to get stronger;" as she rubbed Soifon's head.

"He's scared of how strong he can be though;" catching Yoruichi off guard "he's seen what Ghoul is capable of, and he's afraid of becoming that. At least, he was. I'm not sure if it's still like that now that he's beaten Ghoul. He's told me that his zanpakuto said something to him; something that seemed to make sense to him, but I can't figure it out. 'Fear is meaningless unless you fear your own power'…"

"If you think about it" interrupting Soifon "look at his abilities. He has a blend of shinigami and Arrancar powers and can now manifest his hollow mask to increase his strength. You've mentioned that he's had to give control to Ghoul to save his friends and Ghoul ended up killing someone; add to that the fact that he accidently killed that Doppelganger. It makes sense that he'd be afraid of his own power."

"I suppose. I'm afraid to ask him about it; what if I ask him about it and he shuts me out?"

"Has he shut you out about anything yet?"

"No."

"Then don't worry about it. If you want to ask him about it, ask him; based off what I've seen of him so far he won't just shut anyone out unless he doesn't want them involved in something."

"I wish he was back already;" looking to the ground.

"The sex must have been pretty good;" with a large grin on her face "he made you speechless."

Soifon was too embarrassed to even try to deny what Yoruichi was saying. In her mind though, she was confessing that the sex had been amazing; but that wasn't where it ended. She cared deeply for Tsukune and wanted to try the dating thing with him. He had managed to force her to open up without actually forcing her to open up; she wasn't sure how he did it, and she didn't care. He brought out a side of her she had never seen before and was thankful for it.

"No 'Y-Y-Yoruichi-sama please don't make such accusations'?" mimicking Soifon's voice.

"It was;" she confessed "I had thought about it since the yuki-ona village when Ghoul said that Tsukune wouldn't make the first move. After Ghoul had kissed me, I had thought that it was just Ghoul doing it; the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Ghoul had done it on Tsukune's behalf. Soon I found myself realizing that if I didn't make a move then I could very well lose my chances with him. I didn't want to risk that; over the month I've known him, he's probably the only person other than you that sees past the mask I put up.

Even I had begun to believe that the mask I wore was the real me, but then Tsukune pointed it out to me; I only saw a glimpse of it, but I liked what I saw. It wasn't the cold assassin I had forced myself to become because of my family. It was someone foreign to me. Someone that looked like others would like to be around instead of having to be afraid of the mask I wear. He broke through the barriers I had put up to keep myself safe from being hurt and embraced what he saw."

"Sounds like you might be in love" Yoruichi said as she pulled Soifon closer.

"I've never understood that concept, but now…" looking to the sky "I want to try to understand it. I want to have a relationship other than mentor and pupil with him; I want to see if I can be someone other than the cold hearted person everyone's afraid of."

"Aren't you worried about his friends?"

"I know he won't just stop being around them just because he's in a relationship. If we do decide to try a relationship, I'm sure we'd have to discuss if we will be open about it or not; I'm sure he'd prefer to be."

"What about you?"

"I don't know;" with a sigh "a part of me would want to keep quiet about a relationship. But I know that it'd be better for both of us if we didn't have to sneak around to be together. I could only imagine the rumors that would fly around if we were spotted together while trying to keep the relationship quiet."

"I'll support you either way Soifon. I already preformed my surrogate parent duty and threatened him" with a laugh.

"Then I suppose as Tsukune's friend" they heard behind them "I should warn you as well. Don't you dare hurt him."

The two looked behind them and saw Mizore standing next to a tree. Judging by her comment, she had been standing there for a while; at least from the point where Soifon had mentioned the mask she wore. The yuki-ona only starred at them as she sucked on her lollipop; her face showed no emotion but the threat was clear. She knew where to get a weapon that could harm spirit beings and she wasn't afraid to use it.

"It's Shirayuki-san right?" Soifon asked.

"Yes;" without moving from her spot "you're a taichou of the Gotei Thirteen, correct?"

"Yes. I had believed Tsukune was exaggerating when he mentioned how good you are at sneaking around."

Mizore just remained quiet for a little while; the person she had wanted to have children with was the target of yet another woman's affections. Even before the kidnapping incident, she had her suspicions that Tsukune and Soifon had been rather close and now that she heard from Soifon herself she had a fairly positive opinion about her.

"Tsukune is the best man I have ever met; he saved me from a sensei, believed in me when no one else would. He gave me a reason to live when I wanted to just die. We've been through a lot together and I have to ask. Are you serious about wanting to date him?"

"Yes" without hesitation or doubt.

"Then don't you dare try to hide it;" in a cold tone "Tsukune isn't someone to be ashamed of being with. He's the opposite; he's the kind of person you'd want to stand on the roof and scream to the heavens that you're with. The only negative flaw he has is that he cares too much at times. Should you two start dating, he will have a hard time trying to find the right words to tell us; harder since he knows that a succubus can die from a broken heart. I will always be there for Tsukune as a friend, and I know that he will always be there for me too. It's because of that reason that I will support Tsukune if he wants to have that kind of relationship with you; no matter how much it may hurt me."

"When he comes back" with a soft smile "I'll sit down with him and talk. This way we can decide if we want to date."

Mizore nodded as she walked away from the shinigami. Every word she had spoken had been true; Tsukune was the best man she'd ever met, they had been through a lot together, and it would hurt her a lot to watch him be with someone else. But she also meant it when she said she would support Tsukune's decision to date the taichou if he wanted to. She had always told herself that she was willing to share Tsukune if she was the one that ended up dating him; while she wasn't sure if Tsukune would feel comfortable having that kind of relationship, she wouldn't keep him all to herself as long as it was only with Moka, Kurumu or Ruby. Now that she had practically just given permission to someone to date her friend, she worried that she might get cut off from ever having that kind of relationship with him. But she wanted him to be happy; as long as he was happy, she would be at peace knowing she did the right thing.

Xxxxxx

Plant meanings:  
hawthorn: hope  
eucalyptus: protection  
blue periwinkle: beginning of friendship  
fennel: strength  
dandelions: happiness  
gentian: sweetness  
forget-me-nots: memories  
light pink rose: admiration  
dark pink rose: gratitude


	48. Chapter 48

The Tres Espada walked gracefully through the Forest of Menos following a strange lead she had heard from a hollow she interrogated while looking for an Arrancar that could hide its reiatsu from anything. Supposedly there were three female Arrancar that were known only as Tres Bestias; she had remembered Mila-Rose once said that the three, being her fraccion, should call themselves that since they collectively terrorized several non-fraccion servants while in Las Noches. This was a long shot, but she needed to know if it was them; this glimmer of hope she had in her shouldn't exist. The odds of the group being her fraccion weren't very favorable.

Even if it wasn't her fraccion, she knew the struggle of being a female hollow in a world where might was right. Female hollows were rare, so when one had a conscious they usually found a powerful male to protect them. It was a mixed blessing for many at best; it wasn't uncommon for a female hollow to be turned into nothing more than a sex object. Tia had always considered herself lucky to have been able to avoid that. She got stronger on her own as quickly as she could and had such a strong will power that she overcame the near loss of her identity when she became a Gillian. Once she became an Adjuchas it had become more obvious to those around her that she was female and she had to fight harder than she ever had before to protect herself. She wanted to find these Arrancar and help them; to keep them from having to fight to protect themselves from that.

She grabbed a hollow that had jumped at her and slammed it against the crystalline tree with enough force to crack the tree but not kill the hollow. She knew she was getting close to where the hollow from earlier told her the Tres Bestias were. It was time to narrow the search area.

"Where are the Tres Bestias?" she asked coldly as she flared her reiatsu at the Hollow.

The hollow's mask appeared bland, void of any distinguishing marks, and its body appearing to be like a humans but with broken skin and what appeared to be infected regions of it. The hollow didn't attempt to free itself like others had done; it seemed this hollow was self-aware, but young which explained why it had attacked her. It didn't know any better. The humanoid form caused confusion to manifest in her; she had thought that only Vasto Lorde had human forms. But if this Hollow was indeed young, then it was probably still changing to its real hollow form.

"Are you capable of speech?" she asked.

The hollow shook its head; at least it understood spoken words.

"I've been informed that there are three Arrancar that go by the title Tres Bestias in this area;" as she set the hollow down "which way do I need to go to find them?"

The hollow pointed to the east; she was glad she ran into this hollow. It saved her time, more so considering she was thinking about heading to the north next.

"I suggest you be more careful when picking your meals" she warned it as she walked away "the next time you might become the meal."

The hollow didn't make a noise as it left and sought a different meal elsewhere; it wasn't going to follow the Arrancar towards the Tres Bestias. While it was sure there would be plenty to eat if it followed her, it remembered enough of its life among the living to harbor ill thoughts about her. It knew where it needed to go, the Devil's Crest, but first it had to evolve.

Tia walked in silence, but her mind was busy with thoughts. Aono was in fact the hollow that she had traveled with for a short time, and had helped her escape the large squad of shinigami. She didn't want to mention this to Gyokuro because she knew that the vampire wasn't going to hear her out on the matter now that the identity of Aono's zanpakuto spirit's had been discovered. Bloodriver Akasha; the legendary Shinso vampire who could defeat any hollow short of a Vasto Lorde with the one who once stood by her side. Tia knew better than to try to locate the vampire when she was a lower level hollow; it would've been a suicide. The only thing that was keeping Gyokuro from ordering her to kill Aono was a theory the vampire had thought of.

"Focus on the task at hand;" she growled at herself.

It was pointless to concern herself with such thoughts at the moment. Once she found the Tres Bestias, then she could ponder the possibilities about Aono; at least Fujisaki had thought of Aono in a slightly positive manor. He didn't view him as someone that needed to be killed right away, but instead thought of him as a worthy opponent. She wondered how long that would last though. Fujisaki had mentioned that if Aizen hadn't let Kurosaki get stronger, then Aizen would've won the Winter War.

"How long before Fujisaki orders Aono's death;" she wondered before growling again "focus damn it."

Her eyes took in the surroundings as she continued to walk. She had to be getting close; there were craters in the ground from cero attacks, trees were shattered, corpses littered the ground, and the few hollows that were still in the area didn't get near her. The area seemed surprisingly calm for the amount of damage that surrounded her; just how long had the Tres Bestias been here? She suppressed her reiatsu as much as she could while she walked over another corpse. Just flaring her reiatsu at the Tres Bestias wouldn't be a good way to make a good first impression on them. Then again, suppressing her reiatsu as much as she was could give the false impression of a sneak attack and cause a negative first impression as well. She decided to let up a little.

"Quit scarfing all the food ya flat bitch" she heard the unmistakable voice of Mila-Rose shout.

"You eat too slow;" the voice of Apacci shout back "I ain't gonna wait on you ya damn cow!"

"Both of you are disgusting" the gentle voice of Sung-Sun said.

"SHUTUP SUNG-SUN!" both Mila-Rose and Apacci shouted.

Tia just stood where she was now; tears began to form in her eyes, she had thought they were killed by the sou-taichou. She quietly wiped her eyes and looked at how the three were. Sitting around a hollow they had killed, eating together and it was as if nothing had changed between them. She was sure that something had though; they have been out here on their own for several weeks now and probably believed she had been killed. Their antics didn't last as long as they used to, something she was happy to see.

"You…" she said while trying to make sure she didn't cry "you three are slipping."

The Tres Bestias looked back in complete shock at the voice they had just heard. None of them wanted to wait as they all sonido over to Harribel and embraced their mistress in a group hug.

"We thought…" Apacci began.

"So did I;" Tia said as she returned the hug "I'm glad I was wrong."

"So are we" Sung-Sun said.

"Come" Harribel said "I need to take you to see someone."

"Who would that be Harribel-sama?" Mila-Rose asked.

"You will see when we get there" as she ripped open a Garganta.

-Fujisaki-

The red haired Arrancar popped his neck as he looked over the notes Aizen had taken on how he created his half of the Hogyoku yet couldn't seem to figure out what Aizen had used to stabilize the gem. It couldn't have been something as simple as raw pressure, or heat, or any other means that a living being could manufacture. It had to be something else, something only an extremely powerful spirit being could make.

"I think only one person ever knew how your mind worked" with a sigh.

That one person was none other than Urahara Kisuke. The man had created gigai technology, improved on mod-souls, and had a laundry list of other accomplishments that would make the man sound like a god. If Fujisaki could get his hands on Urahara's notes, then creating another piece of the Hogyoku would be simpler. He knew that Aizen had seen Urahara's notes on his half of the Hogyoku, but there was no information on it in the notes he was looking at. As he thought on the subject though, it made sense that Aizen didn't keep that information together; if someone had wanted to create a Hogyoku of their own in an attempt to overthrow Aizen and all the data was together then there would be little stopping them. A thought suddenly hit him.

"What if…" looking at the notes in a specific order "clever;" seeing it now "this process will take at least a year, but it's how Aizen did it. By separating each step to stabilize the Hogyoku, you were able to make it incredibly strong; if I were to try to make a stronger Hogyoku this could take another six months. Add to that the time to gather the necessary ingredients…" he mulled the numbers over in his head "twenty months. I can create a piece of the Hogyoku in twenty months if I do it right."

A Garganta ripped open behind him.

"I can do it Harribel;" with a chuckling, joyous tone as he turned around to greet her "I can make…" his eyes shook at who he saw "you're alive…"

Tears began to form in his eyes as he didn't let his body have a chance to adjust to the shock of the sudden surprise before he pulled Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun into a hug. He hadn't seen them in years and had believed they were killed by Yamamoto; today was looking to be a great day. The four just continued hugging each other as Harribel looked at them with a smile beneath her mask fragment.

"Don't think you're exempt from this Harribel" Miyabi said as he looked at her with small tears of joy running down his face.

"I've had my moment with them" in a soft tone.

Miyabi just looked at the three fraccion that he considered his sisters and a smirk grew on his face; to them he was still a child and would always be one to them for the next four hundred years. So he had always figured he should have a little fun with it, and he could see his sisters were thinking the same thing. Harribel's eyes widened when the four suddenly jumped at her and tackled her to the ground; sure she could've sonido out of the way, but she knew they'd never give up on the matter and let them 'force' her into a group hug.

-Kokoa-

The small vampire rubbed her head against Hanataro's shoulder as she began to wake up. She didn't want to wake up though, for a couple of reasons; she'd feel the aches of her body trying to work the Hollow blood out of her system, it'd mean having to deal with people, and she was comfy. Luckily there was no one that was going to walk in and spot them, and Hanataro was probably still asleep or was just laying there so she could keep sleeping. As long as she pretended to be asleep, maybe the shinigami wouldn't try to get up; she forced her eyes shut even tighter. She felt him adjust his hand that was resting just above her waist.

"You awake Kokoa-san?" he asked softly.

"Five more minutes?" she asked without thinking.

"I really need to start doing more research" as he carefully tried to get out from under Kokoa.

"Nope" with a smile as she clung to him and kept him from getting up "ten more minutes."

"Kokoa-san…" he began.

"Nahuh."

Kokoa playfully protested Hanataro's attempts to get out of the bed, she knew that he really did need to get back to doing research but didn't want to get up herself. This was her way of trying to stay in bed. Her arms became a firm hug to keep him from just pulling his arm out from under her and slipping away.

"You need to let him get up Kokoa" the two heard from the door.

Kokoa's eyes shot open and she looked at the door to see Moka standing in the doorway with a smirk on her face.

"T-t-THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE ONEE-SAMA!" in an embarrassed panic to keep anything from happening.

"I know;" as she walked into the room and looked at Hanataro "how close are you to figuring out how to help Kokoa detox faster?"

"I… I have a… a list of herbs" shakily "bu-but they will just be… neg…negated by the herbs you told me about."

Moka understood why the shinigami was afraid; she had just walked in on him asleep with her sister. If Nemu hadn't told her about this before, she easily could've misinterpreted it like Hanataro was afraid she had.

"Damn;" with a sigh before looking at Kokoa "you know you can stop clinging to him Kokoa. I'm not gonna hurt him."

A massive blush exploded onto Kokoa's face as she quickly released the medic shinigami. She hadn't realized she was clinging to him like she was; it was embarrassing and completely unintentional. Sure she was starting to like the shinigami, but she didn't think of him as anything more than a good acquaintance at the moment. She was finally starting to stop chasing him around to take the file he was going to give Aono and was sure it would be a nightmare for him to have to run from her Onee-sama.

"Do you need any blood before I leave Shuzen-san?" Hanataro asked as he got out of the bed.

"I guess a quick drink would be good" her blush still on her face.

While it was a good thing that he was offering her blood, she knew that it was going to mean having to drink straight from him. It wouldn't have been as embarrassing of a thought if Moka wasn't standing right there. For vampires, drinking from a person for the first time was I big deal; even more so if the person they were going to drink from volunteered. Sure it was technically medically required considering what happened the night before, but it really didn't change anything.

"I'll give you two a moment" Moka said as she walked out of the room.

Kokoa let out a small sigh of relief; it would've been weird if Moka had watched.

"Uh…" Hanataro began to ask slightly embarrassed "so how… how is this usually done?"

"I can bite into your neck;" with her blush growing across her face "or you can make a cut on your arm and I'll drink from that."

"Oh. Which way is better for you? I mean… I don't know anything about vampire culture and wasn't sure if certain ways had certain meanings and I don't want to insult you…"

As a medic he knew that it was best to ask certain questions about someone's culture; the Seireitei had people from all over the world and all throughout time living in it. People of certain religions had strict rules about medical treatment; in some, female patients had to be treated by female medics. Since he was new to the world of Yokai, he hadn't the faintest clue about any of their cultural backgrounds.

"The neck usually has the best flow, but…" unable to look him in the eye "it's also supposed to be a somewhat intimate thing, about like a kiss, unless it's drinking by force; then it's meant to be an insult. Drinking from someone's forearm is supposed to be…" having a hard time forming the words and had to use such a low tone that Hanataro couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that last part."

"Drinking from someone's forearm is supposed to be…" she was officially at war with herself over saying it "it's supposed to be…"

Hanataro just stared blankly at her as she tried to force herself to say it; the look on his face wasn't making it any easier for her though. Surely he had to know already, he was a shinigami after all. Weren't there vampire souls in the Soul Society anyway?

'_Just say it damn it!'_ she shouted at herself.

"It's… it'ssupposedtobeerotic" at a fast pace.

"That was a little too fast;" as he shied away "I'm sorry."

It was hard enough for her to say it, but now… Kokoa wasn't sure if he was messing with her, or being dead serious now. The look on his face suggested that he really couldn't catch what she had said.

"It's supposed to be…" she couldn't look him in the eyes "erotic…"

"Oh…" understanding why she was having trouble saying that "What about if I were to make a cut on my wrist?"

"Same thing."

"The hand won't bleed enough; and I don't have the tools to tap into the vein in my arm…" he said before looking away from her "I don't mind if you drink from my neck."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's for medical reasons;" as he scratched his head "so I guess it'd be about like CPR."

"I never thought of it like that…" with a slight smile "alright."

Kokoa got out of the bed and positioned herself in front of Hanataro. While it might've been for medical reasons, it was still the first time she was going to drink from someone by choice. She knew she was going to have to be careful and control herself to keep from drinking too much or hurt him; the neck was a sensitive area after all. The shinigami tilted his head to the side and moved his top over to give her clear access to his neck. She could see the artery bounce with his heart beats as she got closer to it. When she was in position she bit down as gently as she could and broke the skin with her fangs; she heard a small wince come from Hanataro just before she began to take small sips.

The crimson liquid of life passed her lips with each gentle suck she made; the taste wasn't over powering, but it definitely suggested Hanataro was stronger than he looked. She couldn't describe the flavor that was suggesting Hanataro was stronger than he looked and wasn't sure if it was just because he was a shinigami or not. The taste wasn't intoxicating like she had feared it would be; the only way she could really describe it was perfect. The sweet taste was just noticeable suggesting his diet was well balanced with plenty of fruits, vegetables and an assortment of meats.

Even though she had never done this before, it felt weird trying to keep from wrapping her arms around him; which would've been the natural thing to do. She did the only thing she could and grabbed his top and clinched her fists on the fabric. It was a friendly jester and it kept her from gulping his blood down. As she began to slow her sips, she felt Hanataro resisting hugging her just as she was resisting hugging him.

"Don't worry about taking too much;" he said as she nearly came to a halt "I have plenty of blood replenishing pills. Keep drinking if you want."

With that Kokoa snapped and pulled the medic into a hug as she began to gulp down as much blood as she could with each drink. Her body had practically been starved for the past two days, not even a blood substitute like tomato juice had passed her lips, so this was refreshing. His blood was amazing but she knew that after what had happened with the Hollow blood, she needed to control herself. She pulled away from Hanataro's neck and licked the puncture holes to seal them; which caused Hanataro to gasp a little from the strange feeling it caused him. Hanataro blinked as his body was suddenly hit with the effect of the sudden blood loss; since he wasn't used to it, his legs began to give out.

Kokoa quickly grabbed the medic the moment she noticed his legs were beginning to give out. She was glad he wasn't anywhere near as heavy as he looked; it was the kimono he was wearing that made him look a lot bigger than he really was. He was almost the size of a twig.

"Don't you eat?" she asked as she set him on the chair "sorry I took so much."

"I'm just not used to losing that much blood" as he healed the small punctures on his neck "could you bring me my bag?"

"The blood replenishing pills are the black ones right?"

"Yes…" surprised she knew "how did you know…?"

"When you were injured the other day" as she dug through the bag "the taichou person told me."

-Tsukune-

The brown haired boy focused; he was trying to keep his reiatsu from seeping out like it usually did. With how much his reiatsu had increased since he was given his pseudo-bankai he really needed to work on keeping it from just flowing out of him. Akasha wanted him to try to circulate it within his system instead of keeping it compressed; she believed it would be easier on his body in the long run, make it harder to detect his reiatsu, and would also keep someone from accurately gauging his power. If he could manage to learn this new way quickly enough, it could help him more than he probably thinks.

'_Focus on a central point'_ Akasha reminded him _'and gradually spin your reiatsu around it. The center of your torso works best.'_

He imagined a bright spot within his core; once he locked onto that spot, he pictured his reiatsu floating around the spot. After a while of just imagining the reiatsu floating around the spot, he felt it and began to make his reiatsu circulate around the point. He felt his reiatsu begin to ooze out of him as he stopped focusing on keeping it compressed within him. This new way of keeping his reiatsu within him was hopefully going to be better than the way he had previously been taught, but until he mastered it it was going to seem as if he had no reiatsu control at all.

'_Very good;'_ Akasha said with a smile _'it usually takes others months to achieve what you just managed.'_

'_Well…'_ with a sheepish laugh back _'my reiatsu is being limited right now; so I'm sure it's helping a lot. The less reiatsu I have, the easier it is to control.'_

'_True, but every little step counts. Taking advantage of the limiter right now is the best thing; otherwise it could've taken you longer to get to this point. Do you feel a difference on your body?'_

'_A little bit. It feels less like my body has all that pressure in it and more like everything is just flowing smoothly.'_

'_This is good; over time your reiatsu will increase and you will need to spin it faster within you. Eventually those around you will sense what can only be described as a black hole within you. That will take several centuries though, even at the rate you're growing.'_

'_That's good, I think it'd be weird to have a black hole in me in only five years'_ he laughed.

Akasha laughed at Tsukune's joke. She knew that if the enemies he would come up against continued to get stronger, that little joke wouldn't be a joke; it could very well be reality. His drive to protect his friends was great, but even while his body was a soul it had limits; increasing his reiatsu faster than his body can handle would be disastrous. Should he become that strong in such a short amount of time, it could possibly destroy his body in such a way that not even the regenerative power of a Shinso could heal him. He needed to be careful about getting stronger.

'_What are your plans for when you return to Yokai Academy?'_ she asked.

'_I'd like to have an actual date with Soifon, but before I do that I'd have to tell the others. I'm worried about how Kurumu-chan will react to it; I don't want her to think I'm abandoning her and the others, but I don't want to keep anything from them. They're my friends and I'll always be there for them.'_

'_Then tell her that. Because she is a succubus she will be able to feel your emotions on the matter; as long as you're completely honest with her, she will know that it's coming from your heart and won't be heartbroken because of it.'_

'_I also need to tell them about Ghoul'_ with sadness.

Akasha remained silent; she knew that she couldn't talk him out of doing it because he didn't want to hide it from them now that they knew he was him. While Tsukune thought that the piece of Ghoul was just floating around somewhere in his mindscape, she saw to it that it wasn't the case. All that remained of the dark reflection of Tsukune was the scythe like zanpakuto, and she had locked that away deep in a dungeon and chained to the walls. As Ghoul would take shape again, he will discover himself locked away and unable to attempt to possess Tsukune again. While she could've out right destroyed what little bit was left of him, it would've been in cold blood at this point; he was no longer a true threat to Tsukune or her daughter and as long as he was locked away, he never would be again.

'_How can I look any of them in the eyes as they call me friend if I didn't tell them? They've been beside me through some bad stuff in the past, and they have a right to know.'_

'_I wasn't going to try to talk you out of it;'_ in a neutral tone _'do you plan to do it as soon as you return to Yokai Academy?'_

'_I'm hoping to. Just five more days before we find out if I'm going to the Maggot's Nest or not; the wait is killing me'_ with a groan as he laid on the ground.

-Moka; evening-

The silver haired vampire threw a kick at Zangetsu; the half breed zanpakuto spirit had agreed to teach her how to tap into the power within her blood. While she was sure Zangetsu wasn't going to have a lot of time to teach her, she wasn't going to waste a moment of time. Zangetsu had agreed to morning and evening training, so long as her homework was done, and would spend her lunch hour educating her on the best ways to tap into it. His first warning to her was something she understood;

'_Never let anger be the way you tap into the power within your blood'_ his voice echoed in her mind.

Should she tie her power to anger, she will never know her true potential; on the flip side of that, she couldn't let her tie be pure joy either or else she would only find joy in fighting. It was going to be difficult, but she knew she could do it. After breaking her leg against that Arrancar last week, she had the drive she needed to get stronger; what if she came up against her again and wasn't strong enough? She had been lucky that Mizore had convinced the Arrancar to spare her, but should the two face off in a real fight in the future, there wouldn't be that chance.

Zangetsu back stepped lazily as the daughter of his love threw kick after kick at him; he could feel the power Moka was putting behind each one, but it wasn't enough to faze him. Having seen everything he's seen, there was little that would faze him anymore. It seemed as if she was just throwing attacks at him and hoping that one would land against him; it was a common problem for many species. Ichigo had been the same way until Urahara taught him the basics of kendo. He caught Moka's leg with ease and held it in place.

"I should teach you some sort of basic martial arts" as he tossed Moka to the side.

Moka landed on her butt with an oomph and quickly got up.

"We don't have time to waste on that!"

"HOW IS IT A WASTE OF TIME IF YOU CAN'T LAND SO MUCH AS A SINGLE BLOW ON ME?!" he snapped at her before taking a deep breath "what good is tapping into the power of the Shinso blood within you if you don't know how to fight properly? Skill will trump strength most days, so relying on strength alone would be your down fall."

Moka hung her head as she realized it was true; every fight she had been in before she had usually just one hit K.O. and never had any real need for a martial art. Now that the enemies were stronger than anyone she's ever faced before the beginning of the year, a martial art was something she needed.

"You seem to know a little taekwondo, but not enough to make a noticeable difference. Seeing as you favor kicks, like your mother, it would be best to teach you capoeira, savate, or build on your taekwondo skills. All three of these are a form of martial arts that revolve around kicks are the primary offense techniques."

"Capoeira?" with a raise eyebrow.

"It is a more recent style of fighting that was disguised as dancing by slaves of the American colonies. I don't know much about it, but it might be a good place to start since it is often considered no more than a game to those who don't partake in it."

"Alright," with a nod "I should probably change clothes then."

Zangetsu nodded and let Moka hurry off to her dorm room to change. The silver haired vampire already began to consider Zangetsu a better father figure than her own; constantly being forced to fight between her sisters, demanding only respect and refusal to hear any objections, and his cold personality made growing up around her biological father hard. Zangetsu only pushed her as much as she could push herself, gave her the choice of fighting/training, and he even offered to teach Kokoa once she was better. On top of that, Zangetsu actually got to know her a little as they were sparing and had told her more about himself than her father had ever told her about himself; not that he ever actually talked about anything but his victories in life. Zangetsu had admitted his failures without having a single look of shame on his face.

-The next morning-

Gyokuro stepped out of her black limo and looked at the large mansion; she could finally see what was going on with Kokoa. Her youngest daughter had been poisoned with Hollow blood; she had been surprised that the Head Master didn't catch on to the fact that she already knew about Hollows, but being that she was over two hundred years old he probably assumed she had already known. She was curious about who was treating her and how her rebellious daughter couldn't tell her transfusion packs had been tainted.

Thanks to all the extra limiters she had to acquire, her Enemy Zero wasn't as powerful as it actually was and she could only tell where on campus Kokoa was. Her youngest daughter was in the tower not too far from her current location; she'd need to go talk to the Head Master to avoid arousing suspicion from the shinigami that were stationed here. The longer the shinigami were in the dark about her connection to Aizen, the better; same could be said about the Head Master being in the dark about her not only being a part of Fairy Tale, but the head of it.

"Excuse me;" she heard to her left "are you Shuzen Gyokuro-sama?"

The vampire looked to see the Head Master's assistant, Toujo Ruby, practically running up to her; it was almost as if the girl had been late to a meeting.

"Yes I am;" with a fake warm smile "you must be Toujo-san. I'm sorry I arrived earlier than I thought, traffic wasn't as bad as I had imagined; you know how horrible humans tend to be at driving."

"I do;" hiding the pain of the memory "would you like to go to the Head Master first or would you prefer to go straight to Kokoa-san?"

"Kokoa is probably still sleeping, so I suppose I'll go to the Head Master first. I have a couple questions as to how this happened that I would like answered."

"Of course" with a small bow "please follow me."

Gyokuro followed Ruby and faked conversation with the girl; in her mind though, it was taking great restraint to keep from knocking the border being through a wall and beating her within an inch of her life. She despised witches just as much as she hated humans. To her witches were no better than the hairless apes known as humans; they were filthy vermin that never acknowledged any race as superior to any other. The only thing that made it easier to resist her urge was how polite and respectful the border being was being with her.

In no time, she was standing in front of the Head Master's office. The border being pushed the door open and showed the vampire into the room before taking her leave to file what paperwork she could in the time that Gyokuro was going to be speaking with the Head Master. Gyokuro looked at the hooded man with yet another fake smile; she was used to faking smiles to people, with all the traveling she did and how many people she met on a regular basis it had become second nature to her.

"**Thank you for coming as quickly as you did;"** the Head Master said **"first and foremost, I wish to apologize for this happening under my nose. With everything that had happened around the same time as this, I was unable to discover who was responsible for it. We do, however, have the person whom we believe is his accomplice. He is locked up in the Student Safety Committee's holding cells now that we've gotten the Hollow blood out of his system."**

"That's a relief;" with a fake sigh "one step at a time."

"**Are you curious as to his current state? I had assumed you'd want to see him tortured for what he did."**

"Don't get me wrong Mikogami-san," as her smile dropped and she showed a dark expression "I want him tortured by the best in the world. I know that it will have to wait though; he can't exactly talk while screaming in pain can he?"

"**I wouldn't know; torture was never something I cared for. What we have learned so far is that he intended to use Kokoa as a sort of test run to see what affects the Hollow blood would have. Once he found the results to his liking, he himself consumed a fair amount and was able to match Moka while she had her limiter on; quite the increase in strength for an Onimodoki."**

"What happened to my daughter?" she asked bluntly.

"**Kokoa reacted differently to the Hollow blood;"** as he pulled out his larger crystal ball and showed her what happened **"since she was a late bloomer, her body had mistook her increase in strength as her going through her growth spurt and she eventually became blinded by the Hollow blood she consumed. We located her and put her in a room to detox from the Hollow blood until a proper treatment can be discovered."**

"I want to see her, now."

"**Of course."**

-Kokoa and Hanataro-

Kokoa nearly choked on her breakfast by laughing at the misadventures Hanataro had since meeting the orange haired teen that defeated her father. Running through sewers, being held hostage, being chased by the large scary guy that Yachiru affectionately called Ken-chan, and more. It was no wonder that he wasn't fazed by her chasing him to beat the living hell out of him; based off just what she's heard so far, he's probably one of the bravest people she's met. She felt really bad when he told her that he was probably the most bullied kid ever since his birthday was on April first, commonly called April Fool's Day. The biggest shock to her was when she learned his age; he was seventy two! That didn't seem to make a lot of sense until he explained that souls age a lot slower than a physical body. It was similar to how vampires aged.

"So how close are you guys to finding a way to get the last of the Hollow blood out of my system?" she asked.

"We think we found a way, but we'll need your mother's permission because it'll be considered experimental and I have to follow medical procedures."

"Fuckin' red tape" Kokoa growled.

She wanted to get out of this room and be able to see the sky again. Now that she had no choice in the matter, she was going to appreciate it more when she finally returned to the outside world. While she was enjoying the time off from classes, and getting to know Hanataro, she wasn't allowed to train at all or leave the room; that left little for her to do and she didn't have her video games in the room.

"I thought I told you that it isn't lady like to use such language" she heard from the door.

Kokoa looked up and saw who had said it.

"Mother…" with a slight gulp.


	49. Chapter 49

"I thought I told you that it isn't lady like to use such language" she heard from the door.

Kokoa looked up and saw who had said it.

"Mother…" with a slight gulp.

Hanataro looked from Kokoa to the woman that Kokoa called mother. The two barely looked alike, their hair wasn't even the same color; then again, Ichigo's mom and dad had what was considered normal color hair but he has a full head of orange hair. The only physical resemblance they had was that their jaw lines were almost exactly the same with Kokoa's only being smaller due to her young age.

"I'm sorry mother;" Kokoa said without looking her in the eyes.

"What sort of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?" in a cold tone.

"She was poisoned with Hollow blood Shuzen-dono and…" Hanataro tried to explain.

"I'm not addressing you medic, now leave my sight!"

The crazed look in the older vampire's eyes told him that if he didn't leave immediately, nothing good was going to happen. It was a scarier look than what he saw in the members of the Eleventh Division. He quickly exited the room for his own safety; in the Soul Society everyone that ever threatened him knew not to take it too far out of fear of his taichou, but this woman… she probably didn't care who his taichou was. Something told him that she wouldn't hesitate to tear him apart in any fashion she wanted to and only a few would be able to stop her from trying.

"Mother," Kokoa protested "he's been treating me since they…"

"You will only speak when spoken to," the older vampire snarled back "perhaps you have been away from the mansion for so long you've forgotten your place?"

"No mother;" looking to the ground "I'm sorry."

The last thing Kokoa wanted to do was piss her mother off to the point where she would be forced back to the mansion with a mere snap of her mother's fingers. Now that she was finally with her sister, finally making real friends, and was actually able to have a real smile on her face and real laughter leave her; she didn't want to be taken from that.

"Why is it you couldn't tell someone had messed with your transfusion packs?"

"I don't know mother."

Kokoa could feel the anger her mother was directing at her. Even without looking at her mother, she could feel the full grunt of her mother's fury; it's always been like this. A scrapped knee, fractured bone, a lost fight to her older siblings; you name it and odds were that it wasn't any different. No matter how little it seemed to anyone else, anything that happened wrongly was viewed as a big deal that needed the harshest of punishments.

"There a problem in here?" they heard from the door.

Kokoa looked up to see a familiar set of spiky orange hair over her mother's shoulder; from around her mother's side, she could see that he was also in his spirit form. It was Ichigo and Hanataro was right behind him. Hanataro must've known he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to even consider trying to talk back to Gyokuro, so he went and got Ichigo; the person who defeated her father and who was possibly the strongest person on campus.

"Nothing that concerns you half bred trash;" Gyokuro growled at him "now leave."

She knew who this person was; it was the person who had defeated Aizen and was responsible for the major setbacks that she had been faced with. One of his attacks had destroyed the Hogyoku and stripped Aizen of his power.

"I don't care how bad of a mood you're in," Ichigo said calmly "berating your daughter before you know all the facts is a stupid thing to do. How about I take you to Hat-n-Clogs and have him, Hanataro and Nemu explain the situation to you; then if you think she still deserves to be yelled at, fine. At least you'll have all the facts."

Gyokuro fought every instinct that told her to rip the orange haired teen apart; he might be in a weakened state at the moment, but he still defeated Issa. A feat that wasn't easy to accomplish for many vampires. Add to that the fact that he's the one that defeated Aizen, it was borderline suicide to try to fight this half breed.

"Fine, I'll amuse you for now" as she left the room "don't think I'm done with you Kokoa."

Kokoa hung her head low as her mother left the room; her hands turned into fists as she fought the urge to cry. She knew if she started crying, her mother would only scold her even more than what she was already planning to. The only way she could keep that from happening was to keep from crying.

"You ok Kokoa-san?" she heard Hanataro ask.

"I'll be fine" her fists tightening up even more on the bed sheet "just go so nothing happens. If you thought my father was brutal against half breeds, my mother doesn't have a word to describe her views on them."

"Ichigo can handle himself;" as he sat down on the edge of the bed "right now you're my patient and your wellbeing is priority."

Kokoa looked up at the shinigami medic and could see the concern for her in his eyes. She let silent tears roll down her face as she pulled him into a hug and clung to him; while she might be his patient, he was officially a friend to her now. She buried her face against his shoulder as she let the tears continue to flow as Hanataro gently patted her back and let her get it out of her system.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired teen continued to do push ups, topless, as he let his mind drift to Yokai Academy again. He had this feeling in his gut that he was missing out on something that was happening, but he couldn't be sure what. When Zaraki-taichou had visited the previous night, the large taichou let something slip.

'_Kurosaki's slippin' if he ain't handled what's goin' on yet'_ the taichou had said.

Those words haunted him most of the night; he needed to hurry up and get back to Yokai Academy. But short of making a jail break, that wasn't going to happen. Even if he did that, he still had the binding kido keeping him from accessing his hollow powers and Akasha's blade was being held in the sou-taichou's office. Supposing he managed to make it passed the guards, the seated officers, and at least one taichou getting back to Yokai Academy would be a bad move; he didn't have his shinigami zanpakuto and wouldn't be able to do much. There was that other zanpakuto though; the one that Ghoul wielded in their fight.

"No;" as he grit his teeth and pushed up from the ground again.

Just being near the blade made him feel uneasy and when he held it he could feel a darker reiatsu from it; it was darker than even Ghoul's reiatsu. Ghoul had said that because he had been a part of his soul before they underwent shinigamification they had separate zanpakuto. If his zanpakuto was Akasha, a Shinso vampire who had fought against evil a number of times, then who was Ghoul's zanpakuto? Could it end up being someone similar to Akasha, but far darker in nature; a person who had the power to rival a legendary Nosferatu. It was a terrifying thought, but one that was a very real possibility.

Tsukune kicked his legs into the air and stood on his hands for a second while he made sure that he had his balance. He slowly lowered himself and gently tapped his nose on the ground; while he could work on fighting technique with Akasha in his mindscape, he needed to work on physical strength in the real world. He had spent the past couple days not doing much physical training, instead opting to learn martial arts from Akasha as often as he could. When he discovered that time moved differently in his mindscape, he decided to focus more effort on building his physical strength.

"I need to get back to Yokai soon;" as he lowered himself and went back up "can't Central Forty Six hurry up?"

-Talia-

The brown haired girl hung upside down from a pull up bar and did crunches. Her mind had been wondering to why Issac had traveled to the past; it didn't make any sense as to why he'd want to go back in time and kill Tsukune. He had always said he owed him a great deal for getting him out of the endless that was Hueco Mundo. If he killed Tsukune a paradox would be created leaving him in the desert fighting for life every day. The Arrancar had made it known that he hated having to fight for life every day, and preferred to be in a library or doing lab work.

"What's your end game?" she asked as she hung upside down for a second "killing him will only leave you in that desert waiting at the Devil's Crest."

She growled in annoyance as she failed to think of anything that would make logical sense to anyone. Issac had poisoned Kokoa with Hollow blood, was now in hiding and had them chasing their tails for lack of better words. If this was supposed to happen, then why did no one believe her when she tried to warn them about Issac's plan when she found it out? Kisuke laughed at the thought, Grimmjow just scoffed, and her mother disregarded the notion completely; not even Ichigo did anything other than at least hearing her out. Her own brother face palmed when she tried to ask him for help. Issac had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes; while working in the Twelfth Division he always kept a neutral face, but was open to everyone. The anger she began to feel became visible on her face as she began to touch her elbows to their opposite knee.

"Didn't those dumb asses learn anything from Aizen-teme?!" she shouted in anger as she touched her left elbow to her right knee.

She quickly grabbed hold of the bar and released her legs before beginning to do pull-ups. The only one that had enough common sense to even look into the matter was Sora, and she had to twist his arm to get him to do that. Once they had gotten to Kisuke's shop in the world of the living, Sora abandoned all doubt he had when they found Issac messing with the controls to the time machine Kisuke had been working on. While they tried to stop him, they failed due to the fact that Issac was a master at hand-to-hand combat and ended up here in this time. She flipped off from the bar and threw a kick, only to have it blocked by Sora.

"A little early to be this angry Talia" as she lowered her foot.

"I hope you're not here to try to talk me into going to classes again."

"Just wanted to check on you;" with a smile "after the other day you seemed pretty pissed and we haven't really talked since."

"I'm fine;" as she picked up her towel "they still haven't figured you out yet, have they?"

"Not yet;" with a sigh "but Ma isn't as much of a ditz as everyone thinks. Dad, he's pretty dense so he most likely won't notice; so I don't think I need to worry about him."

"Doubt it; she always talks about aliens and cyborgs in a way that makes it obvious what she does when she isn't working at the bakery."

"Free manga," with a shrug "no complaining from me."

The two chuckled a bit; it was a shared interest they've had since Orihime took the second job helping create manga. She constantly turned down the full time offer because she enjoyed working at the bakery too much to just leave. Once word had gotten out that she helped make a hit manga, the bakery was filled with fans and the owner was tempted to bribe her with anything to ensure she never left. Orihime had even convinced the artists to come by and do a signing a couple times a year; every time they did, the bakery would be packed.

"You should consider coming to class though;" Sora said in a slightly joking tone "might actually learn something other than fighting."

Talia thought about it; she's never really been to a normal school setting. She's only ever had tutors and that was for things that shinigami would need to know. There was nothing about the world of the living's history, simple mathematics by comparison, and so on.

"Alright, I guess I could give it a try. Might actually like it."

"Cool, go talk to the Head Master and he'll set you up."

-Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Nemu-

"And what does this thing supposed to do again?" Yoruichi asked as she pointed to the beaker filled with what looked like tea over the small flame.

The feline like woman always loved when Kisuke talked nerdy to her; while she didn't understand most of it more than half the time, the end result was the same. They usually ended up in a bed for a couple hours. Kisuke never complained; if anything, he loved that she listened to his geeky talking.

"Well," Kisuke began with a smile.

"It will stimulate the kidneys and liver of the person who consumes it;" Nemu interrupted from her desk without looking up from her notes "but because of the reaction that will happen when the tonic is mixed with the herbs listed by Akashiya-san, it must be drank by someone else and then Shuzen-san will have to drink that person's blood."

Yoruichi gave an irritated look to the fuku-taichou, who wasn't paying attention. She had asked Kisuke and wanted to hear him explain it to her again; she liked the lengthy detail he'd get into and the big words he'd use. Kisuke also was bummed out by his moment being taken away from him by the girl. He really needed to work on the girl's understanding of the term killjoy and how someone became one.

"Oi, Hat-n-Clogs" they heard from the door "Kokoa's mom is here."

Kisuke looked up to see Ichigo leading a blonde haired woman with blood red eyes into the room; he could immediately tell she was intentionally limiting her youki to keep attention away from her. Unfortunately for her, it only served to get his attention directed to her. His mind wondered why she would want to keep her power from being known; there was something major she was hiding from those on campus.

"Sorry about the mess;" Kisuke said with a slight chuckle "didn't think we'd have company. What can this humble shop owner do for you today… sorry, wrong place" with a silly laugh "you want to know what we've found out about your daughter's condition so far."

Gyokuro narrowed her eyes at the shop owner; she knew who he was and needed to be careful about what she said around him. One wrong word around this man and he could single handedly discover every dirty secret she had and have Fairy Tale ripped apart in a matter of weeks. This was going to be a little tricky.

"How exactly is a shop owner qualified to research a cure for my daughter?" with a snarl.

"I'm formerly the third seat of the Second Division, was promoted to taichou of the Twelfth where I founded the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, and I've dabbled in various other research projects that have led to the discovery of a number of medical advances for the living. I invented the gigai that many shinigami use while on living world deployments, which was improved on by my successor, so I have extensive knowledge of the living body."

Gyokuro felt a vein in her head pulse slightly as the former taichou continued to list his credentials on the matter. Luckily she didn't have to say anything since the half breed spoke up.

"We get it, long list of shit you've done" Ichigo said in annoyance "we all have things we need to do today."

"You're a bigger killjoy than Nemu-san" the shop owner said with a pout.

"Please forgive him" Nemu said giving a small bow to the vampire "my name is Kurotsuchi Nemu. I am currently the fuku-taichou of the Twelfth Division and second in command at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. I have seen the effects of Hollow blood before and wish to see that it doesn't happen to anyone else; Yamada-san should be here soon to assist in giving the details of what happened to your daughter. Please forgive the irrelevance of my question, but do you have a second daughter who looks like you?"

"Yes."

"I believe I met her recently; I'm sorry for getting off topic."

The vampire kept her mouth from twitching; this woman was someone else she needed to watch out for when talking. Kahlua had told her about the woman in front of her. She had asked about various abilities that vampires had and could most likely easily tell that she was limiting her youki to avoid suspicion from those that could feel her presence. No matter how polite the woman was, she was a very real possibility of being a threat to her identity.

"Sorry I straggled behind;" Hanataro said as he entered the room "I almost forgot some of the notes I left on the dresser in Shuzen-san's room" he lied masterfully.

"It happens, no big deal" Kisuke said with a smile.

After an hour of explanations and giving exact details of how Kokoa came to be poisoned in the way that she was; Gyokuro agreed to let them use the herbal remedy Hanataro had come up with in order to fully detox her daughter. Hanataro made sure to give the precise measurement readings of how much Hollow blood was injected into Kokoa's transfusion bags. To say Gyokuro was surprised would be accurate; she had originally thought someone just replaced the transfusion blood, but someone had put in just enough to get Kokoa hooked without making it obvious the packs had been tampered with. With such small amounts added to the already weird tasting blood, it was no wonder that Kokoa couldn't tell the difference.

"I believe you owe Shuzen-san an apology" Hanataro said noticing the look on Gyokuro's face.

"Excuse you?" with a dangerous snarl.

"You had jumped to the conclusion that she couldn't tell that she had been poisoned for a reason other than the facts."

"You seem to have quite the pair when you have friends around you; I suggest you remember your place medic."

With that the older woman stood up and left the room; as she did, Hanataro felt his body begin to shake as the anxiety caught up to him. He hadn't forgotten that she could easily rip him apart if she chose to, and was glad she didn't. While he was confident in his friends' skills, he couldn't help but to think that she at least could've landed a solid punch to his face before someone stopped her. She just seemed to have that feeling to her; but he knew that Kokoa wasn't in the wrong for what had happened and her mother owed her an apology for thinking so.

"It's alright;" Kisuke said as he placed a hand on Hanataro's shoulder "that actually helped me learn a good deal about her."

"Other than that she's a cold hearted bitch?" Yoruichi asked.

Kisuke nodded.

"She's hiding something, and is being overly careful to make sure she doesn't let it slip;" his eyes narrowed on the door "you might want to be careful yourself for a while. You just challenged the pride of a powerful vampire; no telling how that could come back at you."

This time it was Ichigo that nodded in agreement; he hasn't had the best of experiences with vampires so far. Well, full grown vampires; with Moka and Kokoa he's had an alright experience with.

-Evening-

Moka rubbed her aching shoulder as she sat down to eat dinner with everyone. She couldn't remember the last time she was this sore without actually fighting someone seriously; she felt like she could fall asleep right at the table as well. Zangetsu had been teaching everything possible in the short amount of time they had, and wasn't holding back either. One of his kicks had put her into a boulder where she had nearly been knocked out as a result. Her entire body ached as she picked up her canned tomato juice.

"Looks like Zangetsu has been putting you through the ringer" Ichigo noticed.

"It'll be worth it once I'm able to unlock the Shinso blood in me;" as she opened her drink "it's also nice to actually be taught instead of just thrown to the wolves."

"You did just fine against me" Ginnei joked.

It took a second for everyone to register the joke before they all laughed. Moka was glad to be able to actually laugh even though there was the very real chance of being attacked by Hollows. With everything that was going on, it was nice to be able to loosen up like they were doing; to be able to make silly jokes like Gin had just made and laugh like fools about it.

"How much longer till your sister is better?" Orihime asked.

"Thankfully, Gyokuro gave Urahara and the others permission to try the herbal remedy Hanataro created. So maybe a couple days" with a small smile.

"And after that, just a few more before Tsukune returns and we'll find the Arrancar from the future and kick its ass" Kurumu said as she threw her fist in the air.

Yukari, Ruby, Mizore, and Moka all smiled as they bumped fists with their succubus friend. Grimmjow just smirked at how lively the group was even though they were out matched in just about every way possible; it was the same faith that Tsukune always seemed to have. It made him wonder if he was the reason for it, or if it was the other way around. Ichigo had a similar smirk on his face but for a different reason; it reminded him of when he and his friends invaded the Seireitei and Las Noches.

"If only it were that simple;" Talia said breaking the joy everyone had "this Arrancar is a master of martial arts. He's taken down a number of slaving camps on his own in the Soul Society with no casualties among those he was freeing, turned down the offer of Third Seat in the Second Division, and given the number Eleven among the Numerous. None of you would stand a chance against him in just his normal Arrancar form;" looking at the living Yokai "he's in a state of constant release and can change his form into any that he's copied in the past or anyone he's consumed. I know for a fact he has two Espada level forms copied and will be willing to use them against anyone that stands against him. Add to that the fact that he already knows every move you could possibly throw at him, you wouldn't last a minute; even as a group."

"There's always hope Talia;" Sora said "Hat-n-Clogs thought his time machine was a dead end, yet here we are."

"I guess you're right;" with a sigh before she smiled "we can beat him. Between Sora and me, we know every form he has and with your help he won't stand a chance."

"That's the spirit" Yukari cheered.

Not too far away, the group was oblivious to the girl that was quietly eating dinner as she read a book; a smirk grew on her face as she thought of how wrong Talia was. Talia's words of encouragement were going to be for nothing because she didn't know what else she had done before making the jump back in time. It was the one thing that was binding her to this time without causing her to implode because of the paradox her presence created. It took some modifications and surgically implanting it into her chest, but with it none of them would be able to even touch her; let alone defeat her.

'_Let them laugh and be happy;'_ she thought with a smirk _'before Tsukune returns, I'll strike.'_

-Kokoa and Hanataro-

The two had spent most of the day together, not just because of the herbal treatment Hanataro had come up with, but because they were enjoying each other's company. Kokoa had gotten Moka to bring her video games by and had been playing different ones throughout the day. She was surprised to find out that the shinigami was pretty good at some of the games she had; mainly the RPG they threw in after lunch. He usually favored using magic as opposed to the brute force frontal assault she favored and it showed when she'd miss a NPC who would keep her from using any sort of combos. He'd blast them with some sort of offensive spell and then begin healing her as she kept moving through the cave, dungeon, or where ever they were.

The small vampire currently had a pork chop hanging out of her mouth as she mashed buttons to finish off the fight between her and Hanataro in the street fighter game they switched to. While he might be good at RPGs he pretty much sucked at any game where he was forced to get right into the fight. A large grin grew on her face as she got Hanataro's character down to a sixteenth of health; he was as good as done now. Hanataro began pushing buttons like a manic trying to stay in the fight.

"COMBO BREAKER!" the tv speakers rang as Hanataro turned the fight completely around "KO!"

Kokoa's jaw dropped and her pork chop fell to her plate as a dumbfounded look found its way to her face. She had thought that every time he had paused the game before, his hands were just hurting because they had been playing all day; that wasn't the case though. He had been looking at the combos for his character and had turned the fight around with them at the last minute.

"Damn it" she growled as she started to eat her pork chop again.

Hanataro just laughed as she ripped the pork chop apart with her teeth, making no attempt to cut it with a knife, and gulped down her tomato juice. He knew she really didn't care about winning the video game; it was just how he had turned the fight at the last second. While she was just pushing buttons and managed a combo, he used the break in that combo to steal the win.

"What else can ya tell me about the Seireitei?" she asked as she swallowed a bite of pork.

"Not much else to tell really; I usually spend most days cleaning the sewers. Unless there was a brawl because of the Eleventh Division, then just about every member of the Fourth Division is in the Infirmary treating wounds. I sometimes sweep the alleys that have a lot of foot traffic."

"Sounds like you enjoy cleaning…" with a blank stare at him.

"It's pretty relaxing, about like gardening; I have a small garden outside of the Fourth Division barracks. I usually spend my days off pulling weeds to keep it healthy."

Kokoa looked at him for a minute; he enjoyed gardening? That little toy robot thing in her dream had led her through a weird garden. She mentally shook her head, it was just a weird ass dream because of the Hollow blood that was in her system; nothing else.

"I should go get another dose for you;" looking at the time "are you sure you haven't felt anything weird as a result of the treatment?"

"Other than having to use the bathroom every twenty minutes; no. Nothing out of the ordinary for me."

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit."

"Try not to step on the Head Master's pet again" in a joking laugh.

Hanataro nodded as he left the room; that was not something he wanted to repeat again, ever. The first time it happened he had been lucky to run into Kokoa, who saved him. The time after that he was running for over an hour before he climbed up a tree and had to wait for it to get bored and leave. After that he jumped out of the way just in time and the thing knocked itself out against a brick wall. Since then he's made a point to watch where he was stepping.

-Rukia-

The midget shinigami walked through the Division Headquarter as she made her way to the cafeteria. Over the past couple days the Division had been in a bit of a buzz about Yokai Academy; supposedly there was an Arrancar from the future hiding out and causing chaos of various sorts. The only reason she believed it was because Nemu had been pulled from an experiment to be deployed to Yokai Academy a couple days ago and had just returned a few hours ago. For her to be pulled from an experiment for anything was nearly unheard of.

"Did you hear about what's going on at that Yokai Academy place?" she heard.

"Yea, sucks that one of the Yokai there was poisoned with Hollow blood; I remember when Kurotsuchi-taichou experimented with it. It wasn't pretty."

"Supposedly seventh seat Yamada created a treatment for her."

"Her; makes you wonder huh?"

"Yea. And you know he's not like that; I personally think the guy's gay."

Rukia rolled her eyes at the comment; Hanataro wasn't gay, he just never dated anyone. Every time she'd try to convince him to try it, he'd suddenly 'get busy' and wouldn't be able to go on the blind date. She tapped her chin; maybe that was the problem, she had tried to get him to go on a date with a random person that he didn't know. As she made her plate, she continued to think on the subject and absentmindedly sat at a random table.

"Hey Rukia-san" she heard Akua say to her.

She looked up and saw the vampire in front of her with a smile on her face; a few feet from her was the former fuku-taichou Omaeda who had probably been selected to keep an eye on Akua through the day.

"Hey Akua. Did you have a good day?"

"For the most part;" as her eye twitched "I really want to know how I got stuck with a lazy lard ass as a guard for the day."

This time it was Omaeda's eye that twitched; he had been forced to deal with her the entire day and it was wearing him thin. Constantly running about, wanting to sight-see, go to her medical appointment with Unohana-taichou, and so on. He barely had enough time to eat.

"Omaeda-san is very capable" Rukia said in his defense "he was formerly the fuku-taichou of the Second Division."

"I don't see it" with a tsk "Soifon-taichou would put up with him? He has poor table manners, won't shut up about how much money his family supposedly has, speaks with his mouth full, and got crumbs from potato chips in my hair as we walked around the Seireitei. I'm surprised she didn't kill him."

Before Omaeda could retort to the pint sized vampire, Kiyone burst into the cafeteria and ran over to Rukia.

"Rukia, you'll never guess what I just learned!"

The tiny girl looked like she had been running for a while trying to locate her; sweat beads were rolling down her face as she tried to catch her breath.

"Shikai?"

"I've had that, and no. It's about Hanataro."

Rukia just stared at the third seat as she tried to figure out what was going on. Hanataro wasn't hurt, otherwise she would've just said so, and he couldn't have returned already. He was nowhere near close to learning bankai.

"I'm drawing a blank here" as she scratched her chin.

"Here's the proof you've been looking for;" as she slammed a paper on the table in front of her "there's no way anyone will think he's gay now. I managed to snag this from Unohana-taichou's desk after I ate dinner with sis."

Rukia looked at the paper and saw that it was a picture of her friend cuddled up next to a red head girl. The two looked peaceful; the red head's head was resting on his shoulder with an arm draped over his chest and Hanataro had a hand just above her waist. A grin found its way to her face. There was a loud crack just before the table she was sitting at split in half. Rukia and Kiyone looked to see Akua with hell's fire burning in her eyes.

"THAT'S MY YOUNGEST SISTER!" she shouted in anger.

"Akua-san" Rukia said trying to get the vampire to calm down "Hanataro isn't like that. I'm sure there's a very good reason for them being in that position…"

She knew that what she had just said sounded ridiculous; no one would be willing to believe that, let alone the sister of the girl Hanataro was sleeping next to. Kami save Renji if Byakuya ever discovered the two of them sleeping in the same bed like that. No place would be safe from the wrath of the overprotective older sibling; Hanataro would have to run… very far and very fast.

"From what Nemu said," Kiyone spoke up "the two were just sleeping, nothing happened. Look," showing the picture to Akua pointing to where the bed sheet stopped on the two in the pic "they both have clothes on. She also said that Hanataro was invited to the bed."

"THAT MAKES IT…" was all Akua managed to say before she felt pain in her shoulder.

She gripped where the pain was coming from and cursed as she realized she had punched the table with the arm that was injured. Add to that her ridiculously high blood pressure at the moment, she had reopened her wound and was bleeding pretty badly because of it.

"GO GET UNOHANA-TAICHOU NOW!" Kiyone ordered Omaeda.

-Twenty minutes later-

"That should do it;" Unohana said with her usual smile as she tied the knot for Akua's sling "what caused you to rip open the wound again?"

"I punched the table in anger and my blood pressure sky rocketed" she confessed.

Akua knew better than to try to lie to the motherly taichou; the fear of her creepy smile was enough to force anyone to tell the truth to her no matter what. It was going to be very awkward trying to explain this to her in detail if she asked about it. She knew that Hanataro was close to the Fourth Division taichou in ways that would cause many to question how they were in private. But at the same time, it was her sister in the picture.

"What could have gotten you so worked up?"

'_Damn it!'_ Akua swore _'I just had to think it…'_

"Well… uh… you see…" she began.

"I showed her this;" Kiyone said as she showed Unohana the picture "I took it from your desk to show Rukia because she was tired of everyone thinking Hanataro was gay and thought it would help her. Turns out that the girl in the picture is her sister and she mistook it as something else."

"I see; we will discuss this later Kiyone-san" a smile still on her face.

"Yes ma'am" with a bow.

"I will need you to stay overnight at the Fourth Division Shuzen-san;" looking at the vampire "I'll be able to properly treat you and we can have a discussion."

"Yes ma'am."


	50. Chapter 50

The next couple days passed without a problem and Kokoa jumped for joy as she took in fresh air for the first time in days. The weirdo in the hat and Hanataro had come to the conclusion that all the Hollow blood was mostly out of her system and it would be alright for her to get back to her everyday life. While she wasn't allowed to push herself when she trained, it was better than being stuck in that room. She stretched her legs as she smiled at the cloud covered sun; she was going to spend as much time as she could outside for the next several days and wasn't going to complain about it. After being locked in a room like she was, even for medical reasons, she came to appreciate the hot yellow orb in the sky; the only reason she'd be inside was to sleep, sit through class, or if it was raining. She was excited to get some light training in after being bound to a room for three and a half days; the only plus side to that was that she managed to get ahead on homework and got her paper done for history class. Now that she didn't have to worry about homework, she could focus on getting stronger.

"You sure you want to do this so soon?" Moka asked as she stood across from her.

They had managed to get far enough away from the school to not have any spectators, but still close enough to draw attention if the two decided to try to push each other. Kokoa had argued heavily against using the underground training area that the shinigami had been using since they've arrived because she wanted the fresh air; something everyone understood.

"Yea" with a smirk "let's see what you've got."

Everyone just watched as the two stared each other down; everyone knew this would be an interesting fight. Moka had been drinking mostly tomato juice for the past few days while Kokoa has had fresh blood from Hanataro twice a day as medical treatment to recover from the Hollow blood. On the flip side of that though, Moka had been training with Zangetsu in various fighting styles and has been focusing mainly on controlling the power she already had.

"Remember Moka," Zangetsu said "focus on defending for now; I want to see how much you've learned and going on the offensive won't do that."

Moka nodded to her mentor as she bent over at the waist and put her left foot back; the basic stance in capoeira. The tension between the two practically became visible as they waited for the signal to begin. It had been a while since they last sparred, and while this wasn't going to be an all-out spar like when they were at the mansion, it was going to be good. The two vampires smirked at one another as Ginnei walked in between the two.

"Be careful Shuzen-san" Hanataro said to her.

"Alright you two," Gin said "remember this isn't an all-out thing and we're trying not to cause property damage for once. That being said" holding his hand in the air before swiftly bringing it down "begin."

With that he vanished and Kokoa charged at her sister and threw a punch; aiming for the silver haired vampire's face. Moka sidestepped to the left and watched as her sister skid to a halt and attempted a low roundhouse kick to sweep her feet from under her. Just before Kokoa made contact, Moka did a backflip over the attack and landed a little heavier than she intended. It wasn't enough to throw her off, but it did slow her down just enough for her sister to throw an uppercut at her; she backpedaled and fell back into her stance.

As this continued, the group watched as Kokoa threw attack after attack at her older sister and the latter dodging each one with a sidestep, flip, or backpedal. Zangetsu observed more closely than the others; he needed to know what he had to focus on with Moka and what would be a good thing to teach Kokoa. The younger vampire didn't seem to favor kicks like her sister, opting for punches instead. While this was an easy thing to teach, it would slow down his teachings with Moka if he had to teach the two completely different things. It was still early in the fight though.

"Moka's not even trying to block" Kurumu said "she's just dodging; and it looks like she's dancing. Why?"

"It's how the style is;" Zangetsu explained "capoeira is a martial art that's disguised as a dance. There is no emphasis on blocking; instead dodging is the preferred method of defense. This keeps the user from taking unnecessary damage from an attack and allows them to move into a position to make an offensive strike. With how strong her future opponents are bound to be, it makes little sense to teach her to block an attack that could very well break a bone. By dodging the attack, she can create an opening on her opponent and deliver a powerful counter attack."

Moka did another flip over her sister and saw at least four spots she could kick to send her sister flying, but she wasn't allowed to. She had to focus on the defensive side of her training and take note of where she could deliver powerful counter attacks. As Kokoa threw another punch at her, she decided to switch tactics and grabbed the fist coming at her and tossed her sister to the side with a sidestep to the right. The surprise in Kokoa's eyes didn't go unnoticed to her as she passed by her. After going ten minutes of dodging attacks completely, switching to blocking wasn't something that would be expected by anyone.

Kokoa quickly recovered and threw a barrage of punches at her older sister; who seemed to block each one with ease with her hands. She could see her sister was intentionally not attacking because she was asked not to; it was still annoying the living hell out of her though. Every time they had fought in the past, Moka never held any punches. She'd always attack if there was an opening and never held back like this. She put more force in her punches and forced Moka to catch the fists rather than just block them.

"Stop holding yer attacks," she growled "and fight me seriously."

"Sorry Kokoa, I can't just yet" with a smirk just before she head-butt the red head.

The hit caused Kokoa to take a few steps back as she regathered her bearings. The hit wasn't enough to get her a concussion, but it was enough to give her a mild headache and disorientate her. After her head stopped throbbing for a bit, she noticed her sister in the same stance that she had been in when they began the fight. She wanted to land at least one hit on her older sister before Zangetsu told her to take the offensive; but with all the jumping around Moka was doing, it didn't look like it was going to happen. An idea came to her mind that should work.

She charged her sister and began to throw a kick at the silver haired vampire; Moka did a spinning front flip over her, just as she had expected her to do. Kokoa quickly planted the leg she used to throw the kick and used it as a pivot to spin around and throw a punch at where she expected her sister to land. As she spun, she could see the surprised look on Moka's face just before her fist connected with her cheek. The silver haired vampire's head turned to the side from the force of the hit and everyone just stared in shock at what had just happened. Kokoa had just landed a solid hit against Moka; after being confined to a room for three days!

"Did that just…" Yukari asked "happen?"

A smile grew on Kokoa's face as she realized her plan had worked and actually managed to hit her sister for the first time ever. She was ecstatic and buzzing with joy on the inside. She actually did it! What made it so much better was that they were both bare handed. She didn't think it would really work, but it did. It didn't matter to her if it was pure luck or not; it happened!

"Take the offensive Moka" Zangetsu said.

"Sorry Kokoa" Moka said with a smirk.

The younger vampire was snapped out of her mental celebration by a strong kick to the head that sent her to the ground. The hit was just strong enough to keep Kokoa from getting right back up and Zangetsu decided to end the fight. Hanataro rushed over to Kokoa to make sure she was alright.

"I actually hit her" Kokoa kept repeating in a happy tone with a smile and dazed look on her face.

"No concussion;" Hanataro said in relief "she'll probably just have a bad headache when she snaps out of it."

"Has that ever happened before Moka?" Mizore asked.

"No, not once before today;" with a smile as she gently touched the spot she got hit at "I think that might actually bruise a little."

"Want me to heal it for you?" Orihime asked.

"No; for Kokoa it's a big deal. I want her to be able to see the result of her hit" as she kneeled next to her sister and ruffled her hair "now she'll train even harder than before since she's starting to catch up."

"It was a lucky hit, that's all" Yukari insisted.

"Doesn't matter; she still hit me and that's something she's been trying to do for about ten years now. To think, she hasn't even gone through her growth spurt yet" with a chuckle "when it finally happens, she'll stand over just about any vampire her age. Possibly even those older than her."

"What's more impressive is that she managed it while fighting like a bar room brawler;" Soifon said "I guess that unpredictability paid off."

"That's not very nice Soifon-san;" Urahara said as he walked up "wasn't Aono-san just a bar room brawler when you first saw him in the Rukongai districts? He held off three hollows on his own if Yoruichi told me correctly; isn't that why you offered to train him? Could've been some other reason though" with a perverted giggle.

Before anyone could blink, the petite taichou had the blond man in an arm bar and wasn't about to let go of him. She was sick of the accusations he always made towards her and was going to make him stop them one way or another. Just as she was about to dislocate his shoulder, she was struck on pressure points and forced to let go of the man; she felt herself get lifted and saw it was Yoruichi who saved the man.

"Now, now, I thought we talked about this my Little Bee" the feline like woman said with a smile "you can't just try to beat the crap out of him cause he says something you don't like. That's my job" with a Chester grin "and it's usually just to his wallet."

Soifon just looked away from her mentor, wishing she could cross her arms across her chest to make the point that she was pouting. Every time she was about to put the irritating blond man in his place, Yoruichi always showed up to save him; it was annoying, but she couldn't go against Yoruichi.

"What's he even still doing here?" she asked without looking at him.

"I'm glad you asked Soifon-san;" Urahara answered in a jolly tone "the Head Master asked me to make some phones for the girls" pulling one out of his pocket "I just finished the last one before coming here."

"Cell phones?" Yukari asked as she took the flip phone from him.

"Yup; and they're not just any cell phones" as he showed all the features "you see, these phones will keep track of what Hollows you purify. Since the Seireitei has a bounty on certain ones, I can give you store credit for them. For those without a bounty on them, you'll still get some credit; just not as much. As long as you have it with you when you purify the Hollow, it will register."

"In case you haven't noticed," Kurumu said "Mizore and I don't have anything that can purify Hollows. How exactly are we going to get credit?"

"Don't forget about me" Ginnei said.

"That's a good question, and to answer that" he tossed each a bracelet "wear these. Toujo-san helped me make them; they generate a field made up of Pure Nature's Energy around your body. Once they're synced to your youki, you can use ranged attacks to finish off Hollows as well. But until then, you will need to use only close range attacks when fighting a Hollow."

"What about" Kokoa asked with a groan as she sat up "the ones we've already taken care of?"

"Well…" tapping his chin "I could scan your Bake-bake bats for trace reiatsu left behind on them from the Hollows you've purified in the past. I can also try scanning Sendo-san's and Toujo-san's wands to see if anything registered there. I can't guarantee that you'll get credit for every one of them, but it will be something. I'm afraid I can't do much for Kurono-san or Shirayuki-san but give you some credit for the ones I know you two took care of. I'll put together a catalog of things you can purchase from my store; it'll range from candy to training."

-A few minutes later-

Kyo sat nervously in a container as he listened to the sound of electricity running through the machine the hatted man had Kokoa place him in. He gulped a little as the bulbs pointed at him began to flicker to life. After his last experience with a shinigami's experiment, he was terrified to say the least. When the lights came to life without interruption, he was bathed in a green light and he gave a relieved sigh as he didn't feel any sort of pain from it.

"Let's see;" Kisuke said "sex: male, weight: fifty kilograms…"

"That's not right" Kokoa said in surprise "he should be about a hundred kilograms."

"My machine's precise, but I'll check the calibration after this;" getting a nod from Kokoa "now, this might tickle little guy" as he pushed a button.

When he pushed the button, the light changed from green to blue and Kyo began fidgeting as he fought the urge to laugh. Kisuke's eyebrow raised as the list of Hollows Kokoa had fought became visible on the screen.

"My, my" with a laugh "you've been pretty busy. You have a lot of little guys, but quite a bit of nasty fellows here too; this guy here" showing Kokoa "managed to attack a hospital and ran off before a shinigami could arrive. That one killed three non-seated shinigami, and this guy…"

"Tsukune-teme killed that one;" Kokoa growled interrupting him "it had some weird poison on its claws and cut my leg. I had to loan him Kyo so he could kill it."

"We'll keep this our little secret then" he whispered to her with a grin as he hooked her phone to the machine "let's download the list to your phone and…" as he waited for the list to download "you're good to go."

He handed Kokoa the phone and she decided to see how much store credit she had; her jaw hit the floor.

"That's… a lot of zeroes…" in disbelief.

Moka looked over Kokoa's shoulder and saw that she had in the mid hundred thousand's for in-store credit. It only made sense since the younger vampire had taken down some 'big guys', as the shop owner had said, and a number of little ones. Add to that the fact that she actively hunted for any on campus, she was surprised it wasn't higher than that. As she thought about it, she realized that Kokoa's hunts weren't as successful lately because of the presence of the shinigami; had they not showed up, Kokoa would probably have in the millions.

"Now let's see" Kisuke said as he opened up the machine "looks like everything is right in here. Maybe I didn't zero the scale properly after moving the machine here" as he sat on the scale and pushed the on button "would someone read that for me?"

"Sex: male" Moka read "weight: sixty nine kilograms."

"Hehe" the shop owner giggled "my favorite number."

His comment got him a well-placed punch on the head from Soifon, who had a tick mark on her forehead.

"Try to act like you're being serious about this" she growled at him.

"Weight: seventy kilograms" Moka said as the reading changed because of the knot that formed on the top of his head.

"Yoruichi;" he cried like a child "Soifon-san's being mean to me again."

"Age:" Ichigo said "six."

When they finally got Urahara to be serious again, they scanned Moka's Bake-bake bat and discovered it was female and an even lighter weight than Kyo, only thirty kilograms. The only thing that made sense would be that Fairy Tale had modified the female Bake-bake bat to be lighter so anyone would be able to use it. However, that didn't explain the weight difference that Kyo had; he was missing half his weight and there wasn't any logical answer. He decided to look into it after he scanned Ruby's and Yukari's wands; luckily there was some form of reiatsu left on their wands from Hollows that they cleansed.

"Looks like everyone has gotten some in-store credit for the Hollows they've cleansed;" Urahara said with a smile "I'll send a catalog once I put it together. But before I do that, Shuzen-san I'd like to examine Kyo more thoroughly so I can figure out why he's missing half his weight. It will be noninvasive unless I see something that requires me to be invasive; I'll let you know should that happen though."

"Alright, I need to take a few more days to recover anyway."

-Gyokuro and Issa-

The two vampires ate in silence; they were both home from trips and often weren't allowed to talk about their business trips. Gyokuro had figured that Issa cut the tuition funds from Kokoa and Moka after his trip to Yokai Academy, but that did little to bring them back. The Head Master had spoken to both of them about a full time paying job of some sort that would cover tuition and give them a little pocket money. That medic that had treated her daughter had crossed a line with her and she was already formulating a way to make him suffer. It wasn't going to be too hard to make sure that happens.

"I saw Kokoa the other day," she said with a smile "she seems to be doing well."

"As expected of her."

Issa wasn't happy about the fact that the Head Master had secured his daughters jobs to cover tuition to keep them at Yokai Academy. He was tempted to force them back to the mansion even if they were kicking and screaming the entire way. Right now though, that would be a fruitless task considering those that were at the academy for the moment.

"Agreed; I'm glad to see she has more friends, but I'm irritated by the species she's decided to mingle with. A succubus, a yuki-ona, a werewolf, witches, and shinigami? It's a pity that there aren't more vampires at Yokai Academy; there's so many lesser species they seem to have forgotten how weak they really are."

"We can recommend to more families that Yokai Academy is a good educational facility; their curriculum covers a vast amount in the time frame the students are there."

"I thought it was cute how close she seems to have gotten to that medic shinigami;" as she took a drink of her wine and heard her husband nearly choke on his food "I hope she remembers that she's to be wedded to who we pick and doesn't do anything…" she searched for the right word that would set her husband off "drastically pleasurable."

She could feel the killer intent coming from her husband and mentally smiled; the foundation for the medic's demise had been laid and there was little that would keep her husband from targeting him. If she knew her husband as well as she hoped, she knew he would hire an assassin in particular. That irritating runt of a medic would be dead within the month, and with who Issa was bound to hire no one would be able to save him. The assassin who was going to be hired was known as Black Parade, and she knew exactly why the assassin went by that.

'_I hope you enjoy your last days worm,'_ Gyokuro thought with a smirk as Issa got up from the table and went for a phone '_cause there's no escape for you now.'_

-Tatsuki-

The black haired human sat on the park bench after her run to catch her breath for a moment before having to run back to her home. One thing had been on her mind ever since she left Yokai Academy, her half brother. While he was technically older than her, she would always see him as the pacifist kid that would sooner run from a bully rather than stand up for himself. He had always been the target of the people she'd beat growing up; rival martial artists, bullies, punks that didn't know when to shut up, the list could go on. The sudden change in his personality had taken her through a bit of a spin. She wondered if his time at Yokai Academy had done him some good; not to mention his time as a shinigami agent as he said his title was because he hadn't graduated from the Shinigami Academy.

She wondered if it had mainly been those girls he had made friends with while at Yokai Academy; she remembered their dad often saying something about having several female friends, and his mother making accusations of forming a harem. They all seemed nice enough. The thing that annoyed the living hell out of her though was that when he met each one of them they had basically been planning to use him. Kurumu planned on making him a slave, Yukari was just making his life hell, Ruby had tried to kill him, Mizore only wanted to reproduce with him, and she couldn't help but to suspect Moka of using him too. But because Tsukune had put that behind him, she had decided to get over that unease and support him.

Speaking of support, she noticed the looks her brother was giving the martial art shinigami; she'd be willing to put money on them having some sort of thing between them. She just hoped it wasn't a strictly physical thing. Her brother a man whore; that thought sent chills down her spine and made her laugh at the same time. The goofy little kid that could barely talk to anyone of the opposite sex, that wasn't family, a man whore? What a change that would turn out to be; of course she'd kick his ass if he was though. He knew better than to turn into that.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" she heard an angry voice practically shout.

"I'm sorry" a girl's voice replied.

"Sorry doesn't fucking cut it you stupid bitch."

Tatsuki had heard enough and decided to tell the guy off. She walked over and could see that the guy was somewhat nicely dressed; designer clothes, a fancy Rolex watch, hair kept neat, and had a silver ring on his right hand. The girl was dressed in a good looking sun dress and had flip-flops on and a bracelet on her right wrist.

"I suggest you leave her alone;" she warned the guy.

The guy looked over and she could see the annoyance on his face.

"This doesn't involve you onna" he said "I suggest you stay out of it."

"Leave. Now" Tatsuki warned again.

The guy had reached to grab her shirt and was greeted by two punches to the gut and a fist to the face before he could blink. The hits knocked him backwards and on his ass as he lost his breath. Rage could be seen in his eyes as he stood back up and pulled a butterfly knife from his pocket; as he flipped it open, a hand grabbed his wrist and spun him to the ground yet again.

"Pulling a knife on a woman? How pathetic" a new voice said.

Tatsuki blinked in amazement as she looked at the person how had just put the abusive boyfriend on the ground. He had wiry black hair that was combed back and reached the middle of his neck, he was dressed in simple jeans and light blue t-shirt with a black button up t-shirt completely unbuttoned, and had red eyes. Tatsuki wondered if the person who had just stepped in was a vampire as the guy picked himself up yet again. The guy had flipped his knife around and attempted a downward stab on the black haired man; who lazily grabbed his wrist, wrenched it behind his back, took the knife from him, and pushed him away.

"If you are going to try to use a knife don't hold it like this;" imitating the guy "you hold it like this" flipping it the right way with the blade tip pointing towards his opponent and demonstrating "see, smooth. Try again."

He tossed the knife back to the guy, who had caught it. Tatsuki just watched in amazement as the black haired guy, yet again, lazily dodged the stab and slash attempts before he grabbed the guy's wrist and karate chopped his gut causing him to bellow forward until he was hit with a knee and sent to the ground again. Whoever this new person was, he had to be very skilled in fighting to seem so calm while facing someone with a knife; no one without some knowledge of self-defense would ever consider it.

"I suggest you leave now; the police are already in route and everyone here has been filming on their phones."

The guy looked around while grinding his teeth together before taking off. The black haired man walked over to Tatsuki and the girl and smiled at her gently.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes" as she wiped her face "thank you. Both of you."

"That guy was a punk;" Tatsuki said "I eat guys like him for breakfast."

"The police should be here soon" as he heard the sirens "I'm Jyuu."

"Ten?" the girl asked.

"My mother doesn't have much of an imagination."

-Twenty minutes later-

"I'm glad they aren't asking us to go to the station with them;" Jyuu said as he and Tatsuki watched the girl go with the police.

"I'm just glad we were here; no telling how that could've gone."

Jyuu nodded; he had seen things get out of hand really quickly before and when that happened, nothing good came as an end result. The guy might've been human, but he refused to stand by while a woman was in danger.

"I didn't want to ask with everyone around" Tatsuki said catching his attention "but you're a vampire right?"

"You know about Yokai?"

"Just recently found out actually; your red eyes give it away."

"I'm surprised you aren't freaking out about a 'creature of the night' being out in broad daylight;" with a chuckle "I was expecting that, or a long list of questions."

"I got most of that out of the way when I found out;" as they walked "I haven't seen you around Karakura Town before, you just passing through?"

"Yea; family business trip of sorts and I lost track of my sister. I was hoping to find her soon before…" his cell phone began to ring "one minute please" as he answered it and walked to the side "Hello? Yes. May I call you back at this number? Thank you, I'll call back as soon as I can. Sorry about that" as he walked back over "work."

"You seem kinda young for the kind of work that calls during lunch and you have to call back later."

"It's complicated…" with a sigh "family business and my sister usually leaves me with most of the paperwork."

The two talked for a while as Tatsuki showed Jyuu around Karakura and they looked for his sister. Tatsuki was afraid to ask about his actual age because she wasn't sure if it was an insult to them or not. She was surprised to find out he was actually half European and half Japanese; his complexion suggested he was completely Japanese, but as she looked at his face with more attention she could see his features were definitely European. What caught her completely off guard though was that the person who beat her at the national tournament last year was a low level vampire; D-class from what Jyuu had said. As time passed they eventually found themselves at the arcade center where Jyuu saw his sister on the DDR machine. She had long sand blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, dark blue tennis shoes, dark yellow shirt and a skirt made from denim that went past her mid-thigh.

"How many times to I have to tell you;" he said as she noticed him "if you're going to go out and about, take your phone with you."

"Hehe…" as she scratched her head "I forgot. I really wanted to see what games the arcade had."

"Thank you for showing me around Karakura Town, Arisawa-san;" with a smile to her "I owe you dinner or something."

"Sounds good."

"Onii-chan has a date" his sister teased as Tatsuki put her number in his personal phone and she handed it back to him.

"Come on" as he grabbed his sister "work called."

Tatsuki could see the blush on Jyuu's face as he led his sister down the street. She couldn't help but to think she had the same kind of relationship with her brother; always having to look after him and keep him out of trouble when they were together. Now though, he was finding trouble all over the place and seemed to be able to handle himself. He's grown up quite a bit since she last saw him and while she was happy about that, she was worried too. How long would it be until he found himself in a situation he couldn't handle on his own?

-Kokoa-

The small vampire laid sprawled out on the roof of her dorm and was enjoying the sunlight in the new black two piece swimsuit she bought. It was a long day getting all the notes she needed from her various sensei and showing each of them the note that Hanataro gave her to make sure the absences didn't count against her. While she had been locked in the detox room it was hard for her to relax at all and now she finally had the chance to. There were no Hollows on campus, not that she'd be able to do anything about it at the moment, she didn't have to worry about homework, had a new swimsuit, and didn't have a care in the world for now. The calm air gently blew over her as she stared at a cloud that looked like a chibi bat; with as calm as everything was, her mind was still busy with thoughts.

Ichigo had told her that Hanataro stuck up for her against her mother and even said that she owed an apology to her. Kokoa knew that couldn't have played over too well with her mother; she was too much like her father and demanded extreme respect from those around her. The medic had to know that her mother was extremely powerful, and yet he still stood up to her.

"Shuzen-san; is this guy a friend of yours?" she heard from the stairwell entrance.

She rolled over and saw one of the girls from her floor holding onto Hanataro by his arm; most likely to punish him if he had lied in order to get into the girls' dorm.

"Yea, I'll make sure he leaves before lights out" as she rolled back over.

She didn't hear anything from the girl as the door closed and Hanataro walked towards her. A part of her really wanted to ask him why he stood up for her against her mother, but she didn't want to break out into tears again like last time. He seemed to have that feel to him that helped her open up to him in ways she's only ever opened up to her sister, and then some. She had never told anyone but him what she thought about her time at the mansion, she cried on him, used him as a pillow twice and even drank his blood. They had a weird friendship.

"Are you feeling alright Kokoa-san?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"Yea; I spent most of the day relaxing and haven't had any weird feelings."

"That's good to hear;" with a smile "I think after your last dose tonight you should have all the Hollow blood out of your system."

"Awesome."

The two sat on the roof in silence; Hanataro unable to think of how to continue the conversation, and Kokoa trying to think of a way to say 'thanks for saving my life' without sounding sappy. The more she thought about it though, the harder it was going to be. He had helped Yukari return her to her proper age, saved her from the Hollow during the massive attack nearly a week ago, and had saved her from the Hollow blood she had been poisoned with. How exactly can thanking him not sound sappy without turning the situation into a perverted scene from a manga?

"That two piece looks good on you;" Hanataro said with a slight blush "it brings out your eyes."

"Thanks;" with a blush of her own as she shrunk back a bit "that's actually why I bought it."

"Why'd you decide to come to the roof instead of the pool?"

"Vampires and water don't mix," she answered "and I got tired of the stares from everyone. They all look at me as if I choose to drink the Hollow blood and I'd rather be up here away from everyone for a while."

"You know the truth, that's all that matters right?"

"That's not enough for some people. They make up their minds before they know the facts and think that they know the whole story; they can go fuck themselves for all I care. I'm not gonna waste my breath on someone that won't listen to the truth. Aren't you hot in that" looking at Hanataro in his shinigami uniform.

"It's a little warm, but it's no big deal. After wearing it for so long, you kinda just get used to it."

As they continued talking, the cool breeze that had kept Hanataro from overheating vanished and he had to take off his top. As he did, Kokoa saw the four scars that ran across his back that were the result of him saving her a week ago. Guilt began to fill her; no matter how much she had apologized for not being able to handle the Hollows on her own, it never seemed to ease her mind. This was the first time she was seeing the damage though. As she looked at the scars, she began to think that they just seemed a lot worse than they really were because of his tiny build and lack of mass. If he were bigger, then maybe they wouldn't seem as bad.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"About what?"

"Your back. I wasn't…"

"Kokoa-san, we talked about this. It's alright" as he turned around and she saw the single scar across his torso.

"How did you…" feeling uneasy about it as she pointed at the injury on his torso "get that scar?"

"The Septima Espada; I had gone to Las Noches in Hueco Mundo to heal my friends and he attacked me and the person I was treating."

"An Espada; like Jagerjaquez?" as she traced the scar.

"Yea; only he was technically weaker than Jagerjaquez-san."

Kokoa gently kissed him on the cheek; his skin was soft and warm, something she didn't expect to be on someone who had seen the battlefield. Since she considered him a friend, a kiss on the cheek couldn't really be considered a sappy thank you; and it sure as hell didn't classify as something perverted.

"Thanks for saving me from everything" as the both of them blushed.


	51. Chapter 51

"Why won't anyone tell me about my daddy;" a young Talia asked as she looked up at a man with long, messy black hair "Issac-san? They only ever say he was a good man and he would do anything for those he loved, but won't tell me anything else. What was he like?"

The Arrancar looked at her from his workbench and at the eight year old girl who had snuck away from her mother yet again. She looked more like her father than her mother, despite her braided hair, and everyone knew it. He knew it was only a matter of time before she would figure out that he was her father's closest friend and come to him; he didn't think it'd be this soon though. The look in his eyes told her that he was going to lie to her just like everyone else. He'd only say 'he was a good man, just like everyone says' or 'you're too young to understand'; that's all anyone ever said to her.

"He was…" as he leaned back in his chair "a complicated fellow. It wasn't as simple as people keep saying because not many shinigami know the truth about him."

"What is the truth about him?"

Issac knew that everyone would be extremely vocal because of the thing he did had it not been for the threat of several individuals beating the living hell out of them. To them, he was a monster who killed a number of people in cold blood; while the truth was he only ever killed a few in cold blood. Her father might have been a good man, but there were a number of things that he did that would haunt the minds of many for some time.

"If everyone were to speak their minds without being afraid of repercussions, punishment from your mother, they'd try to say bad things about him."

A mild understatement; he was a part of an attack on the Seireitei, killed a taichou, was responsible for the death of a fuku-taichou, and so much more. To some, he was the embodiment of evil that they'd swear no one would've been able to stop. To him, Talia's mother, and a few others though, he was simply like fire, ice and a silent rage; he would seem so cold to those around him, but he had a passion burning in him hotter than a sun. Issac had seen the silent rage, the quiet fury, of him too. His face would be void of emotion, but the person fighting him would feel the full grunt of his anger.

"Why?"

"Well…" trying to think of something "when I knew him, he was a lot like Jagerjaquez-fuku-taichou; pretty violent but had a good heart. Plus he was a Vizored, like Kurosaki-taichou, and that frightened a lot of them. In the last days of the war, some think that he only helped the Seireitei because of something that happened that just pissed him off. They're fools though; he helped the Seireitei because that's what he was doing the entire time. To keep your mother safe."

"Mother was in danger?"

Talia's eyes went wide as the thought of her mother being in danger completely registered with her. Her mother was one of the fastest people in the Seireitei and the second fastest female. Her skill in combat excelled to the point to where only a few taichou would be able to match her; even her physical strength was something to be amazed at as well considering her size.

"In ways I'm sure she'll never admit. But your dad did everything in his power to keep her safe from harm. While some of his actions might not have been… agreeable, his heart was in the right place. When I first met him, we had been enemies but we became friends after he found me again at the Devil's Crest; he had nearly been killed. Later on, I asked him what kept him alive, you know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"'The thought of being able to see my baby girl'."

"Fibber; that was twelve years ago" as she knocked some beakers off the bench "he couldn't have known about me."

The look in Issac's eyes showed he realized she wasn't going to accept that those were the words her father had told him; he wasn't even sure what he meant. After the last battle of the war when he died, he had become even more confused by what he meant. There was no way for him to be able to see his daughter.

"You wouldn't understand" with a sigh as he went back to work.

"There you are;" Yoruichi said as she walked into the room "you're lucky I found you before your mom. Come on, let's go get some ice cream so she doesn't know you came here; you know how much she doesn't like Kisuke."

"Yes granny."

"Do you want me to tell her where you really were brat?" with a vein throbbing on her forehead.

-Present time-

Talia opened her eyes and found she was in her room at Yokai Academy; she looked at the clock and saw it was early still but the sun was rising already. The dream she just had was the first time anyone ever tried to tell her about her father really was rather than just saying 'he was a good man'. As she got older, Issac constantly refused to tell her anything about his time with her father; it had annoyed her to the point where she had screamed at him in the Twelfth Division Headquarters making a huge scene before Kisuke managed to calm her down enough to leave.

"Sora was right;" as she got out of her bed "I need to work on my anger problem."

Everyone had kept things about her father from her and her brother; more from her though. Even Tia, who had been really close to him, didn't tell her much other than he was the reason many rebelled in the last battle of the war. It had been a tipping point of the war as both sides had been evenly matched and her father was the one that had convinced those who turned on Aizen; which changed everything. It was her father who ended it though; one powerful attack that drained him to the point of pure exhaustion. After that attack, someone had killed him though; used his weakened state to end his life. What infuriated her was that that person was allowed to walk freely afterwards.

"I don't believe what she claims;" as tears rolled down her face "there's no way he'd ask anyone to kill him."

-Ichigo-

The half shinigami woke up and looked at the sleeping girl on his arm; even while Orihime slept, her hair seemed to be in perfect place. He could feel its silky texture on his bare chest as she rubbed her head against it. After actually knowing her for a little more than a year, he felt he could honestly say he loved her beyond that of brother-sister love like what he felt when they started high school. Her kind and peace seeking personality gave him the inner peace Zangetsu often said he needed; she kept it from raining, as Zangetsu would say. He closed his eyes and focused on getting to his inner world; when he opened them again, he was there.

"Hey, Old Man Zangetsu;" he said as he walked over to him "you said you needed to talk to me about something?"

"Yes. It's your powers;" looking at the skyscraper covered horizon "they're growing and steadily changing. It isn't something to be worried about, but you should keep that in mind when you train."

"Changing how?"

"Ever since you became an item with Orihime, you found an inner peace. Whereas when you first gain your shinigami powers it was in the midst of battle, and when you regained them after Byakuya sealed them away you were preparing for a war. This stunted your true growth; thus causing your zanpakuto to resemble the blade it did before."

"Before?" as he drew his blade and looked at it.

His eyes widened at the slight change his shikai had; the ribbon that had once extended from the end of the hilt was gone and the hilt itself had a small hand guard that was silver and barely big enough to be called a hand guard. At the end of the hilt was a silver-grey end piece that had a tiny bit of chain attached to the end. The blade's dull side was no longer perfectly straight like before, it now had a slight curve about half a meter from the tip and had a clear dividing line between the black part and the once white edge that was now metallic silver. The metallic edge had a point coming back towards the hand guard that began where the black ended. The size of the blade had changed as well; it now seemed to be a little shorter but the width had increased a good bit.

"You're powers are increasing, but your reiatsu control has increased as well;" Zangetsu explained "this accounts for the shorter length. The bandages that had made up the sheath will re-manifest when you go to 'sheath' it. Your bankai has changed a little as well; go ahead and release it."

"Bankai" Ichigo said.

As the reiatsu settled, Ichigo saw that the blade was different than before. The length was the same, but it was a little wider and the hand guard was more circular than previously. Along the noncutting side of the blade were three sharp tips that had a sharp edge between them; upon closer inspection he discovered that from the tip, furthest from the hilt, to the tip of the blade was also sharpened into a cutting edge. His hands now had black gloves that went to his mid-forearm and had large white Xs on them that looked to be armor segments.

"The three tips represent your three sides; Shinigami, Hollow and Quincy. Eventually each one will have a different color to make this more obvious. This will happen as you learn to control your Hollow power more and learn how to use your Quincy powers. By the time tips are completely separate in color, you will be able to use Saigo no Getsuga Tensho and the Mugetsu without becoming as weakened as you were the first time. Even now, once you get your strength back to where it was before fighting Aizen, you will be able to use it without the possibility of losing your powers."

"That's good to hear;" as he returned his zanpakuto to its shikai state "but I don't plan on using it unless I have to. It felt like it was one of those attacks that you only get one shot with and if you miss you're screwed."

"You are correct. Should you miss with the Mugetsu, it will require a great deal of time to recharge; be wary though" the zanpakuto spirit warned "should you attempt to use it too many times in a short amount of time, you will lose your powers. Possibly forever."

"Thanks for the heads up. How long does it take the Mugetsu to fully recharge?"

"A few years."

"So a short amount of time would be within that few years' time?"

"Yes."

"I'm guessing you don't really know what 'too many times' equals to in a real number."

"Unfortunately you are correct. It could be a second use, or it could be six uses; either way, I would advise caution when considering using it. You should return to the real world, Orihime is about to wake up."

Ichigo nodded and left his inner world.

-Grimmjow-

The Arrancar sat looking at the sun rise over the horizon from the roof of the mansion that was Yokai Academy. Ever since he had been away from Hueco Mundo he found himself staring at the sunrises almost every morning. It was something that never happened in the Hollow home world; it was just a never ending desert that was set in darkness that seemed to reflect what everyone in it had become. The sunrise was almost like a second chance to those that had the luxury of seeing one. Yesterday sucked? Here's a new day for you; make it better that yesterday.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching these" with a smile.

"I never thought you'd be the kind of person to enjoy the sunrise" Shizuka said as she rested her head against his arm.

"After not seeing a real one for over four hundred years, it's something I've come to appreciate when I'm up early enough to catch."

The neko smiled as she held the panther's hand; she wasn't sure what it was between the two of them, but she was happy to be with him. He made her feel perfectly safe, and he had opened up to her more than anyone else. When they had been with Ichigo she had mentioned how Grimmjow kept a number of weaker Arrancar from Orihime's room when she had been kidnapped by Aizen and Ichigo looked surprised. Grimmjow had said it was so he'd have a guaranteed fight with the orange haired shinigami again and nothing else. Later though, Grimmjow had told her that it was because he had a level of respect for him after their first fight and kept the human safe because Aizen knew she was a friend to him.

"You've seemed off lately;" she said "is everything alright?"

"I'm worried about Aono;" he admitted with no protest "he's like Kurosaki but has to answer to the fuckin' Seireitei and play by their rules. All the shit he's done since Soifon-taichou found him is more than enough to get him thrown away for a while."

While he'd probably never say it to her face, he did respect the petite taichou as a warrior and understood why she was a taichou. She had earned her rank and he was going to give her the respect. It was different for the shinigami than it was for the Espada; the shinigami had to display their skills and power to achieve a certain rank. In Las Noches, Aizen would just give them their ranks based off of how powerful he made them when he turned them from Hollows to Arrancar. While they could get stronger on their own, it was a long and difficult process that often showed little in results.

"He's like a little brother I have to keep worrying about;" he sighed.

After spending so much time training Tsukune he had begun to feel that bond that Ichigo had mentioned to him. In the past he had never bothered to get to know his allies and always believed that since he was a hollow he was incapable of forming any type of bond further than being allies. Tsukune had pushed himself every day he trained him; there was that look in his eyes that showed Tsukune didn't want to let him down. It was because of that look that the panther pushed Tsukune even harder, but he also let him rest more often than when they first started training in the Seireitei. These new feelings were making him uncomfortable from time to time, but occasionally it was that good uncomfortable.

"Tsukune-kun's strange like that;" the neko said with a smile "he can take someone who seems to be the coldest of persons and shows them a softer side they didn't think they had."

"It's weird" as the last of the sun made itself known over the tree tops.

-Uryu-

The Quincy sat at his desk quietly like he always did, but his mind was far from quiet. Ever since he had returned from Yokai Academy a couple days ago he had been a maelstrom of questions, conflictions, and unease. Everything he had been raised to believe had been a lie; how was he supposed to react to that? Yhwach was the father of all Quincy; even that core belief that every Quincy had been told since the day they were born had been a fabricated story. The true father of all Quincy was a witch, warlock, mage, however you looked at it, he was a Yokai species that is viewed as a border being.

He had been raised to hate Hollows and shinigami as if they were the source of all evil on the planet. Yet Alvious had encouraged his students to work along with the shinigami to protect the world of the living from the tortured souls that were Hollows. This wasn't something he could talk to his father about, not with how he often just wrote things off and disregarded information like this.

"Earth to Ishida-san;" Keigo said "did you hear what I asked?"

"Sorry, no" with a sigh.

"Where's Ichigo been? Ever since the end of the war, he's been in and out a lot; have you heard from him?"

"Yes, just recently;" as he looked out the window "he and Inoue-san are dating now."

"WHAT?! Why would he tell you that?" he asked in a comically panicked tone "You two don't even get along! All of you are plotting against me; all of you! Even Tatsuki won't tell me anything after she went to see him and Orihime at that hollow capital place."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's because this is how you often react to everything anyone tells you?" Mizuiro asked him without looking up from his phone.

"I'm not feeling well;" Uryu said as he got up "I'm going to go home and rest for the day. Could you take notes for me Kojima-san?"

"Sure" ignoring Keigo's whining.

The Quincy walked down the street and continued to try to make sense of the truth he had learned while at Yokai Academy. He was actually a border being, he wasn't sure how it worked for witches and wizards as far as which he would be considered, and he had to reevaluate himself. It was hard to do that without being able to talk to anyone about it. Ichigo had wanted him to keep quiet about the truth of the Quincy race because of what happened to his mother; his concern had taken the conflicted teen by surprise. The two didn't start out as the best of friends; Uryu had threatened to kill Ichigo at one point. They somehow managed to work pass that and became mutual acquaintances. And ever since they attacked Las Noches the two had gotten along a lot better than when they first met; so much so that they'd consider each other friends.

By the time he came out of his thoughts, he realized he was in the forest where his grandfather had taught him many of the Quincy skills. His eyes looked at the tree that had been used to hold the target his grandfather made him aim at. The old tree still bore the scars of where he had missed as a young child. He couldn't help but to smile at the memory of spending the time with his grandfather. He was the only one who showed him any sort of affection after his mother died all those years ago.

The teen ran his hand along the tree that had held his target as a child; the scars from his missed shots still obvious to the touch as well as sight. Now that he knew the truth about his origins, he couldn't help but to feel a little guilty for using the tree in such a way. As a witch, or wizard, he needed to be more in tuned with nature as Toujo had told him before he left Yokai Academy. He wondered what that meant though.

"I'm not just a Quincy," he said as he sat at the base of the tree "I'm a creature of magic. Listen to me" with a chuckle "accepting magic like its nothing."

While his mind worked mainly on what he could see right in front of him most of the time, he knew things could happen that he couldn't explain but magic? He often wrote that notion off. Was it really like how humans depicted magic though? Witches used the energy of nature to manipulate what was around them in order to get a desired result; it wasn't too different than what humans did in everyday life. They found ways to create energy from the sources around them in order to make things they want happen; driving a car, using a stove, getting a drink from a water fountain, and so on. The main difference between witches and humans was that once humans used the source of their energy, it was gone for good. When a witch used the energy, it could be reused over and over again because the sources weren't destroyed as a result.

-Tsukune-

The brown haired teen looked at the large door that led to the Maggot's Nest. The masked Onmitsukido that stood at the door had hardened eyes that showed he had seen several battles and wars; he was the Third Seat of the Second Division. Tsukune gulped a bit as he remembered why he was here. It was a way to show that he was still willing to work with the Seireitei regardless of what the verdict came to be. He had a feeling that Central Forty Six had already made up their mind about his trial and were just wanting to be a hundred percent sure before they made it official.

Yamamoto stood next to the boy and knew that Tsukune understood was asked of him. He needed to go down into the Maggot's Nest and speak with someone in particular. The sou-taichou knew this was a dangerous game for Central Forty Six to be playing, but it was necessary to confirm some of the intel that Akua had given them. While he didn't think Tsukune would be swayed by the person he was going to be talking with, the man had a silver tongue that could rival that of a trickster on just about any level.

"Aono is to be escorted to the isolation cell number one hundred and twenty" Yamamoto informed the third seat.

"Yes sir;" with a salute before looking at Tsukune "follow me and stay close."

Tsukune nodded as the third seat opened the door and stepped into the prison. The conditions in the Maggot's Nest were nowhere near as bad as he had originally thought; the inmates were allowed to roam freely in the main chamber at the bottom of the stairs, there was a buffet line that had hot breakfast, and everyone seemed indifferent about being held in the prison. As they walked through the chamber, he could see many of the inmates with a look in their eyes like he had seen at Yokai Academy; they were sizing him up for some reason. Thinking on it, he realized that he was in the Maggot's Nest being escorted by the third seat, essentially the warden, down to the isolation cells. If he were to be just a regular prisoner like them, he wouldn't need an escort like he currently had.

After the winding staircases and the long tunnels, he found that he was finally at the cell numbered one hundred and twenty. The door looked to be made of Sekki-Sekki stone and reinforced with metal bars. The third seat pounded on the door.

"You actually get a visitor today, teme" he said as he opened the small viewing door "don't even think about trying anything."

The third seat unlocked the door and looked at Tsukune.

"Be careful."

Tsukune nodded to the Onmitsukido as he walked into the cell. On the inside the room wasn't small, but it wasn't large either, it was enough to live in for an extended period of time, there was a toilet with a privacy screen, a small table with a chess board on it, two chairs and a bed. Sitting in one of the chairs was a man with slicked back brown hair with the exception of one group of strands that hung in front of his face, and brown eyes that looked like they could read anyone. He recognized the man as Sosuke Aizen.

"I must be honest," he said with a smooth tone "I was expecting it to be Yamamoto wanting to play chess. Would you care for a game? I already have the board set up."

"I'm not very good at it" he confessed.

"I'll go easy on you" with a smile.

His words had been laced with double meaning; he could tell by looking at the boy he was about the same age as Ichigo. The brown haired teen looked like someone who would trip over the ground like Hanataro Yamada. It would be painful to toy with him like he did everyone else.

"Ok" as he took a seat "who goes first?"

"You can."

Tsukune looked at the board and moved a pawn.

"I can assume that you know who I am as Yamamoto is the only one who can arrange something like this;" as he moved a pawn of his own "so that puts me at a bit of a disadvantage for the moment. Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Aono Tsukune" he answered as they continued the game.

"Oh," with a raised eyebrow "from Yokai Academy correct?"

Tsukune stared at the former taichou in surprise.

"I kept tabs on you while you were at Yokai Academy;" as if reading his mind "you were quite the annoyance, but I found it amusing how you and your friends ran around trying to keep the academy safe."

"Why would an Espada team up with the living? An organization known as Fairy Tale;" hiding his forming anger "Yokai that want to exterminate the human race."

"So Yamamoto hasn't figured it out? Yet you, a sixteen year old boy, sit in front of me asking the right questions" with a chuckle "I'm beginning to wonder if I should've focused more on recruiting you and your friends more than creating the King's Key. Which one of my former army has followed their orders?"

"She said she was the Tres Espada. I understand why she had her rank; if it weren't for my bankai I wouldn't have survived."

"My dear Tia Harribel;" with a smile "I thought I killed her. I guess she's still useful after all."

Tsukune's jaw clinched tightly at what he just heard; this man had betrayed someone of his own army. While he didn't like being on the opposing side of those he fought, he would never want them to be betrayed like that.

"Why'd you do it; try to kill her?"

"She was in a stalemate with the youngest taichou of the Seireitei; I expected so much more from one of my strongest Espada. Judging by the white robe, you are a prisoner of the Seireitei like the rest of the inmates within the Maggot's Nest. To be in the Maggot's Nest though, you'd have to be dead; I'm guessing you didn't fare as well as you had hoped at Yokai Academy. What was it that finally killed your living body? A Yokai, a Hollow, another human, or did you finally break and take your own life?"

"I died protecting my friends and the school;" as he moved and took Aizen's knight "Hokuto tried to destroy the barrier around and reveal Yokai to the world. My friends and I stopped him. I died for my friends, and I'd do it again without hesitation. I even chased Harribel-san to the yuki-ona village where I ended up killing someone by the name of Fujisaki."

Aizen looked at the boy with narrowed eyes. This boy had managed to kill the child he had raised? He found that hard to believe. Even if he had bankai, Fujisaki would've, should have, been able to defeat Aono without a problem. He had to wonder where his adopted son had sent Harribel and why it could've been so important to send her away at a crucial time.

"Why would you order your Espada to work with Fairy Tale after your defeat?" Tsukune asked as Aizen looked at the board.

"I had hoped it would've been obvious at this point;" as he moved his bishop "I helped create it. I needed a large number of Hollows that had the necessary potential to become Vasto Lorde. The only way I could guarantee that would be to throw the world into a war unlike any it had seen before; the world torn into two. Humans against Yokai; can you think of a more violent death than being targeted just of being who you are? World War two supplied a great number of Hollows to Hueco Mundo, but a vast majority of them were human souls with no real potential for the power I needed. Yokai are naturally stronger than humans, so that power difference would also transfer to their souls. You know that Hollows are created from either the inability to pass over to the Soul Society or by dying a violent death. With that many Yokai becoming Hollows, at least two of them would become Vasto Lorde like I needed."

"You're just using them?"

"Not completely;" as he moved his pawn "the head of Fairy Tale really wishes to destroy the human race. It's a mutually beneficial alliance; she gets to destroy the human race, and I get the powerful Hollows I want. And weren't you just using your 'friends' at Yokai Academy? Constantly hiding behind them as they fought so hard to protect you; you even got injected with the blood of a Shinso vampire. Didn't you just use them for your own means?"

"We are real friends;" letting his anger slip "even when they found out I was human, they wanted to stay by my side. We became what the school stands for. Humans and Yokai living alongside one another in peace."

"You never had peace when you were at Yokai Academy. Your friendships were based off violence and battle, nothing more. On your first day at Yokai Academy, you tried to run; only to be saved my Akashiya Moka. After seeing you had someone who could and would protect you, you decided to stay. You befriended two species known for being nothing more than mistresses. An alliance between humans and Yokai forged from peace? What a foolish thought. And even if an alliance were to be formed, it would only last until the common enemy is defeated; then the humans would turn on the Yokai. Do you understand? Humans are hateful and scarred little creatures that will use anyone and anything as a means to an end."

"Sounds like you have something in common with them, even though you're not a human soul."

"Congratulations," as he moved his pawn to the edge of the board and swapped it out of the knight that Tsukune had taken earlier "you are the first person to figure it out without me telling. Even Yamamoto believed I was a human soul; can you figure out what kind of Yokai I really am though?"

"With what I've heard about your zanpakuto," as he studied the board "I want to say Incubus. But like the succubae, they are creatures of love; so you can't be one of those."

"There are oddities among every species; pacifistic vampires, vegan werewolves, intelligent harpies, non-intelligent witches, and so on. Would it be so strange for an incubus to be 'hateful', as you believe me to be?"

Tsukune skimmed the room looking for something that could've given a hint as to what kind of Yokai Aizen was. There was a small stack of books from philosophizers throughout time, the room was almost obsessively clean, and there was a plate that had partially eaten breakfast including a glass of tomato juice.

"Did you ever have fangs?" Tsukune asked noticing that Aizen had very human like teeth.

"Filing them down was quite unpleasant, but it was worth it in the long run."

"Why would a vampire even consider filing down their fangs? It's a part of what makes them who they are."

"Deceiving Yamamoto and everyone else of my identity was necessary; naturally this made filing my fangs away a requirement. If I had kept them, Yamamoto would've been very suspicious of me from the beginning. Who would believe that the gentle, caring, and understanding man I had pretended to be would be a vampire whom was planning to overthrow the Shinigami King? And wouldn't this be the pot calling the kettle black? You pretended to be a Yokai, a vampire, in order to keep from being executed by the Safety Committee last year."

"I did it only to survive and be able to live at the academy in what peace I had. You lied to everyone because you were planning to destroy the Seireitei."

"I had to survive in order for my plan to succeed;" moving his queen "and I wasn't planning on destroying the Seireitei. Only most of it, the parts that would've been destroyed were going to be rebuilt after I took the position of the Shinigami King. Check. Did you know that rumors within the Seireitei have a way of leaking all the way to even me? You're the boy with the powers of both an Arrancar and a Vizored; the perfect border being. Able to use sonido, cero, and have a Hierro as well as able to cast kido spells and wield a shinigami zanpakuto. How did this come to be?"

"Why do you want to take the place of the Shinigami King?" as he freed himself from the check.

"Why should any of us have to answer to someone who never shows himself? It makes no sense being forced to do the bidding of someone who only seems to have a voice but no face to put to it. We may be shinigami, but we aren't his servants; that title belongs to a different classification of shinigami called only reapers. Check again. As true shinigami, our task is mainly to slay Hollows and convince souls that didn't pass over with a reaper to do just that. We are forced to clean up someone else's mess; how is this right for those of the Gotei Thirteen?"

"Check" moving his knight.

"It would seem I underestimated you;" as he captured the knight "eventually the Gotei Thirteen will label you as an enemy and go after you. It won't matter where you run to, who your allies are, or how powerful you may be. Your powers make them fear you and there will come a time when your back is against the wall with no way out" as he moved his bishop "and you will discover what the Vizoreds discovered. Someone with the powers of a hollow can never exist within the Seireitei, or as their allies, without having an execution order put on them. When that time comes, where will you run to? Yokai Academy; the Head Master can't keep you safe, even he has limits.

Your only options will be to accept death by the hands of the ones you once considered allies and friends or to flee to Hueco Mundo where your reiatsu will attract hollows from miles around you. You will be forced to fight day and night to stay alive. That's before the Seireitei sends someone to kill you and given that you have bankai already, it will be a taichou who won't hold back against you. Even if you were to manage to defeat the taichou, you aren't the kind of person who would just leave them laying in the sand. You'd help them return to the world of the living; this would only expose you for either capture or assassination. Your only hope for true survival would be to hide for the remainder of your life or to rebel against the Seireitei entirely.

That day will come eventually; it could be next month, or it might even be three hundred years down the road. But you will need to decide where to stand. With the Seireitei, who will try to kill you the moment the opportunity presents itself, or against the Seireitei with the Hollows of Hueco Mundo where you could very well be the one leading them. It's amusing how the hollows are given such a distasteful reputation when they are probably more accepting of the different than the Seireitei. Check mate Aono-san."

"Good game;" as he got up to leave.

"Please remember what I said;" Aizen said as he took a drink of tomato juice "the Seireitei may be acting as though they are your allies for now, but the moment they think you're a threat to them" as Tsukune knocked on the door "they will kill you. You will need to pick a side to stand on for the coming war; be sure that you are on the right side. It'd be an extreme waste of talent and intellect to learn of your death because you picked wrong."

Tsukune walked out of the room and followed the third seat out of the Maggot's Nest.


	52. Chapter 52

Ichigo sat starring out over the campus as he and Orihime ate lunch; his main focus was on that he had missed just about a month worth of classes because of everything that's been going on in that time frame. He would need to get back to school if he didn't want to be held back a year, same thing for Orihime. A groan escaped him as he remembered something; not very many people knew he and Orihime were dating now and he was never going to hear the end of it from a number of people.

"What's wrong Ichigo?" the busty healer asked as she took a bite of her large slice of cake.

"Just thinking of how much crap we're gonna have to put up with when we get back to Karakura;" with a sigh "between being gone for a month and just showing back up. Then when we're trying to explain that, 'surprise', we're also dating now. Keigo is gonna go nuts."

"We really have missed a lot of school haven't we?" tapping her chin "perhaps we can ask the sou-taichou if you can get back to everyday life back home."

Ichigo looked at his girlfriend and couldn't help but to wonder why she had insisted on staying at Las Noches after the last attack on it. Things had been calm, everyone that needed Orihime's healing ability had been healed, and no one had been seriously injured since the last attack. He hoped that she wasn't worried about Nel trying something; ever since he and Orihime started dating, the green haired Arrancar had eased up on her death hugs and greetings to him. He was just over thinking it, Orihime didn't seem like she'd get jealous like that.

"It'd be nice to get back home;" with a smile as he thought of his sisters "Karin's gonna kick my ass for not seeing if I could return home sooner. I'm gonna have to spend a couple weekends with her and Yuzu to get her off my back."

"I'd hope so;" with a giggle "you only went home once over the month we spent at Las Noches. Do you think Sora is having girl trouble?"

"Where's that coming from all the sudden?"

"Well, Yoruichi-san had said he asked her for some advice about girls the other day. Maybe him and Talia-chan?" as she looked down at the courtyard and saw the two sitting next to each other "they did grow up together and Talia-chan seems to like him."

Ichigo watched as his son stole some food from Talia's plate and the girl reacted by doing the same to him and sticking her tongue out just before she started chewing. He couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight of the slightly childish scene.

"Maybe; we'll just have to find out when we get to the right time."

-Talia and Sora-

The two continued their childlike antics with one another, from stealing each other's food again to playful pushing as one was about to take a bite of food. Their playful behavior didn't stop until both had eaten their lunches. Neither one could deny that there was something between them, but they just weren't sure how to act on it without being afraid of freaking the other out.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Sora asked his friend as he set his empty cup down.

"Yea," with a large smile "he's finally coming back. You seemed to adjust to seeing your aunt without blowing it."

"Step aunt," causing Talia to roll her eyes "and there's not much of a difference."

"Not much of a difference? She doesn't have her mask fragment or hollow hole; how is that not much of a difference?"

"Her hole is usually covered and her mask fragment looks like a hairband;" with a shrug "how different does it need to be for you? Besides, I'm surprised you aren't the one that's blown it."

"Whatever;" with a hmpf "you're the one with the weird situation at home."

"How's it weird?" causing Talia to give him a look "Ok, it's weird but it works; we love each other equally and no one can change that. Biggest difference with everyone is seeing Yachiru so small."

"Yea" with a laugh "doesn't stop her from trying to ride Kenpachi's shoulder though."

Seeing the adopted daughter of Kenpachi in such a small body was something that had caught them both off guard when they first saw her; back in their time she's twice as big, but just as child-like. Everyone kept saying it was because Unohana-taichou had managed to get her to eat properly and let her body grow to the size it was supposed to be. One thing that Sora remembered from his childhood was when the fuku-taichou would babysit him and his sister; tag was the game of choice thanks to his mom's suggestion when Yachiru first watched him. It didn't help that the pink hair fuku-taichou would take them to Hat-n-Clogs' underground training area.

"You ever have to play tag with her?" Sora asked.

"How do you think I got so good at shunpo?" with a chuckle "she's faster than she looks."

-Soifon and Grimmjow-

The petite taichou and the panther watched their classes running, but were paying little attention to them. Their minds were elsewhere but it wasn't a difficult to guess where; Tsukune's return.

"If this guy from the future is here to kill Aono;" Grimmjow said "odds are he'll make his move tomorrow as soon as he returns. Try to catch him off guard in order to ensure the kill."

"It's a very real possibility, but we need to hope for the best and try to find and apprehend the Arrancar before that chance presents itself."

"You and I have both been trying to see if anyone's reiatsu feels anything like an Arrancar and we haven't come up with a fuckin' thing. It's lookin like our only option is to wait for Aono to return and catch this guy before he's able to get close. Besides, won't there be a taichou escorting him back?"

Soifon let out an annoyed sigh; she knew he was right with where he was going. With another taichou here to help them, it'd be far easier to catch the Arrancar than the team they have now. There was nothing wrong with whom they had at the moment, but the extra help from someone with experience would be a good thing to have. More so when she thought of another possibility; if the Arrancar could change his body, could he copy abilities as well? Sora and Talia had already confirmed that this Arrancar had the form of two Espada level Arrancar in his arsenal, if the Arrancar could copy abilities as well it'd be a long drawn out fight.

"Less than twenty four hours;" she said "that's not enough time to locate someone who can change their appearance and how their reiatsu feels. Our only option is to wait at this point. I don't like the thought of having to use him as bait without him knowing."

"We ain't got much of a choice; the old fart won't let any messages get passed to Aono and won't let him pass any either."

The two let out a sigh as they turned their focus on the class; there was a very good chance that once Tsukune returned from the Seireitei, they'd be done with their deployment and will have to return to the Seireitei for Soifon and Las Noches for Grimmjow. While this wasn't a bad thing, it was going to make it harder to keep in touch with Tsukune and give him the training he was most likely going to need in the future. The panther knew that he had taught Tsukune just about everything he could given the boy's own skill set and abilities; there was practically nothing left for him to teach because Tsukune had only shown the ability to use sonido and Hierro. Anything further would be just to improve on those two Arrancar abilities; Tsukune's pesquisa was already on par with his.

Tsukune's abilities might've been more balanced when compared to a shinigami and hollow, but he favored his shinigami abilities while fighting; opting to use his cero only when he had to. There was the possibility that he could use shunpo, but he used sonido because it was much easier than shunpo for him. His Kido abilities, while not broad, were impressive and he was equally skilled with bakudo and hado. The only thing he lacked was knowledge in kaido and that was something he could easily fix.

-Fanfan-

The Yasha walked through the cafeteria looking for the friends of Tsukune. His transfer paperwork had finally gone through and he was looking to make friends with them. As the heir to the Huang family, he had to be strong and have strong friends; Tsukune and his friends were the strongest on campus and could help him get stronger. His summoning skills were nowhere near the level of his father's or great-great-grandfather's; his abilities were more like his mother's and rested in martial arts. While he loved his mother, he wanted to have better summoning abilities like the male side of the family. Tsukune and his friends seemed to have a way of finding trouble, which usually meant a lot of fighting. It would be a good way to get stronger himself while making friends.

"Excuse me;" when he found them "you are the friends of Aono Tsukune correct?"

The group of girls all looked at the Chinese boy and he gulped a little in fear. The looks that they were giving him suggested they weren't in the best of moods.

"They are;" Kokoa said "I'm not. What do you want?"

"My name is Huang Fanfan;" with a bow "my transfer papers just became finalized and I'm looking to make friends. I've already met Aono-san briefly and was hoping to become friends with him and his friends."

"His great-great-grandfather is Touhou Fuhai, one of the Dark Lords and a family friend;" Moka said putting her friends at ease "he isn't someone to worry about."

"Sorry about the fright;" Yukari said "with everything that's been going on lately we can't trust someone who randomly asks us about Tsukune-kun. There's an open seat here" pointing at the seat next to her.

"Thank you" with another bow before taking a seat.

-The next morning; Tsukune-

The brown haired teen stood in the center of the massive room where the Central Forty Six towered over him. He was finally going to know if he was going to be allowed to return to Yokai Academy, or if he was going to spend twenty years in the Maggots Nest. The pregnant silence from the ones acting as judges was beginning to worry him; even the Sou-taichou stood in silence next to the door with his eyes barely cracked open.

"Aono Tsukune" one said "the Central Forty Six has decided on the charges made against you. For attacking a taichou: Justifiable Defense. For going AWOL: Guilty. Disobeying direct orders from the Sou-taichou: Guilty. We also find you not guilty of treason. Were you an actual shinigami you would be spending the next fifteen years, as a minimum, in the Maggots Nest. Since you dropped out of the Shinigami Academy before disobeying the Sou-taichou's orders, we had to discuss what punishment to give. After much debate, it was decided to forbid you from ever reentering the Shinigami Academy and should you ever attempt to reenter the Seireitei without written permission from the Central Forty Six again, a kill on sight order will be given. And when we do give you permission to enter the Seireitei, you will have a taichou escorting you at all times; we don't care if it is just to use the bathroom, you will be watched at all times. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Thank you for showing me this leniency" with a low bow.

"Mikogami Tenmai has requested that you be returned to Yokai Academy; it is our understanding that you told the Sou-taichou you would return to the Rukongai after you returned from saving your friends. Would you care to change your mind as to where we release you?"

"With your permission," looking to the one speaking "I would like to be released to Yokai Academy."

Low mutters filled the room as those that made up Central Forty Six whispered amongst themselves.

"How would this prove beneficial to us?" a different member asked.

"Should I be released to Yokai Academy, I will be in the custody of the Head Master; Mikogami Tenmai. This will allow easier access to me should the Central Forty Six feel the need to check up on me or believe I am posing a threat to the Seireitei and need to be dealt with. If I were to be released into the Rukongai, it would take more resources than necessary to locate me."

More whispers filled the room.

"Very well;" the first man said "you will be released to Mikogami Tenmai. I believe I speak for everyone when I say we are a new Central Forty Six, but make no mistake; should you attempt to choke us with this bit of leash we are giving you, we will not hesitate to have you killed."

"Thank you" with another bow.

The guards escorted Tsukune out of the room and removed the cuffs on his wrists; he rolled his wrists and the stiffness that had formed worked its way out. He looked around and saw Unohana standing next to Akua, who had a smirk on her face.

"Looks like you get to go back to Yokai" Akua said.

"Yea" still rubbing his wrists "I'm sure everyone is going to be relieved. I'd like to get back to Yokai as soon as possible" as he looked at the Sou-taichou.

"Unohana-taichou is here to escort you;" in his usual tone "Shuzen-san has asked to go with to ensure her sisters she is alright."

"That'll be fine Yamamoto-sou-taichou" Retsu said with a smile.

-Yokai Academy-

Sora walked through the woods on his way to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. Today was the day that Tsukune was supposed to return to Yokai Academy, and they had failed to catch Issac beforehand. Now Tsukune was going to be targeted the moment he stepped foot on campus and there was most likely going to be a large fight; the best that they could hope to do is contain the damage to an area of the campus that wasn't used for much.

"What are the odds of that happening though?" he asked himself with a sigh.

Issac was plenty strong on his own, but when he used a copied form he was even stronger; one would think that when he'd change to a copied form, he'd be limited to what that person could do. That wasn't the case; when he would use a copied form, it adds to his abilities rather than limiting him. The only way that they could contain the damage would be for everyone to fight him at the same time without giving him any time to change his form. That was his drawback. If he didn't have time to change his form, he was stuck using what he had; so if he was in a form he just created himself, his abilities would be weakened.

He knew that Issac wouldn't have come back to this time without some way to ensure certain people couldn't interfere with, or join in on, a fight. The Arrancar had to have something to guarantee his safety from certain individuals. With the barrier around the academy the sou-taichou couldn't show up without damaging it; the one person who had the power to one-shot the Arrancar couldn't without risking the students' lives. There was still the Head Master, Soifon, Grimmjow, Ichigo, Matsumoto, and Fuhai that were major risks to him. What did he had that would force them to stay on the sidelines?

"Moka in this time would probably only bruise him at best;" scratching his head "I don't have the stamina he has. And he could easily take Talia. Damn it this won't end well."

His eyes widened as he heard a Hollow roar followed by a pained scream nearby. He rushed towards it and saw a hollow rushing to eat a girl that had fallen down; as he ran towards it, he built up a small ball of Pure Energy of Nature and blasted its mask the moment he was in front of it. He was glad that Ruby from his time had put an enchantment on the badge for him; it kept him from having to carry another item just to defend himself. It let out a roar of pain as it was purified. He turned around and got a good look at the girl he had just saved; she had sand blond hair, subtle blue eyes, and was kind of cute.

"You alright?" as he kneeled next to her.

"I think I broke my ankle running from that thing;" as she winced in pain when he touched it "could you help me to the infirmary?"

"I'll take you to someone better than a doctor" as he helped her up and she got onto his back.

"I'm Jo, by the way."

"Sora."

As Sora walked the two didn't talk very much until he got Jo to Orihime. Once the busty healer had summoned her semi-dome, Sora explained what had happened.

"Your reiatsu…" Orihime said hesitantly to Jo as she recalled her fairies "it feels almost like an Arrancar's…"

Sora's eyes went wide at what his Ma had just said; the girl had reiatsu that felt like an Arrancar's. That could only mean one thing to him, but it was too late to do anything about it; this girl was actually Issac. He was blasted with a Bala and sent through a wall.

"Of course you would be the one to notice;" Jo said with a chuckle "it doesn't matter at this point though."

She closed her eyes and shifted her reiatsu throughout her body to change her form. Her hair got a little longer and her skin turned an olive toned tan as she got a little taller and her canine teeth turned into fangs. Orihime's eyes shook violently as the Arrancar took the form of Kokoa's mother.

"I suggest you stay out of my way;" the copy of Gyokuro said "I don't attack medics but the moment you move to attack me, you will be a combatant in my…" she looked like she was suddenly having trouble breathing.

The Arrancar clawed at her own back as if she were reaching for something and finally found what she was looking for; the clasps that held her bra in place. As she snapped them loose, she took a deep breath of air and quickly removed the bra from her person.

"Damn it. How did I forget about how big her breasts were?" looking at the bra she had just thrown to the ground "anyway, don't attack me or I will see you as an enemy and won't hesitate to attack you back."

The vampire copy grabbed the blade that was meant to cut her. She looked at Sora with a smirk on her face as she examined the armor like Full-Bringer he was dawning.

"I have to admit;" the Gyokuro copy said "I didn't think you would've gone to Sado-san for another year or so for the training. I thought you'd be too much of a pacifist like your mother to forgo the training necessary. After all, you did get her hair."

"Shadup;" as he tried to push Issac back "why are you trying to change the past?"

"Stalling won't work;" as he pulled the blade closer and kneed the boy in the gut without holding much back "I have much more experience than you."

Spit came from Sora's mouth as he was hit with an uppercut followed by a roundhouse kick to the side of his face. The teen crashed through a tree and before he could think to get up, the Arrancar was right on top of him about to bring a fist down. With a flick of his Bringer Light, he put himself at a safe distance from the Arrancar; just in the nick of time as a small crater formed as a result of the fist hitting the ground. He held his side as he felt a bruised rib begin to bother him.

"Impressive;" the Arrancar said with another smile "I guess I should stop pulling an Aizen and actually take you seriously."

Before Sora could think to move, there was a static like boom right in front of him and a fist was driven into his gut. Blood flew from his mouth as he bellowed forwards and his face was greeted by a knee causing one eye to immediately swell shut. He couldn't even get a second to even consider making a counter attack before he felt a cut appear on his chest; through his one good eye, he could see the eyeballs in the palms of the Arrancar's hands. This was Gyokuro's true power, to copy any technique that those eyes had seen before; and the technique that had just been used was the famous Hougetsu Jigen-Tou. Just before another punch could land, he saw Issac jump backwards just in time to avoid what looked like a small missile.

"I warned you to stay out of my way;" Issac said as he charged a cero aimed at Orihime "now you will suffer the consequences."

Issac fired the cero at Orihime with an emotionless face; the air warped around the deadly reiatsu attack as it rushed towards her Santen Kesshun manifested as quickly as it could. Orihime's eyes shook as the cero was stopped, not by her barrier, but by Sora's blade. The cero pushed him back against the barrier as he grit his teeth and began to crack the golden barrier. He had no choice now. He tilted his head back and inhaled causing the cero to become a stream flowing into his mouth; his insides felt like they were starting to burn with each little bit of the cero he took in. Once the stream ceased to exist, he turned the cero on its original owner.

Issac's eyes went wide as the cero made impact with him sooner than it would've hit Orihime; the explosion shattered glass from every window nearby and smoke filled the air. Sora collapsed to the ground from a mixture of pain and exhaustion. He had never done the Cero Doble while in his gigai before and considered himself lucky that it worked, but he knew that Orihime knew his secret now. He had made sure every day up till now to keep any mention of an Arrancar power he had secret to keep her from getting suspicious of his true identity. He felt the warmth that was the signature of her golden healing dome around him. When he looked at her, he could see tears coming from her eyes and he could see them for what they were; tears of betrayal. She believed he had been lying to her the entire time.

"I didn't think that you could do that in your gigai;" Issac said with an irritated voice as the smoke began to clear "that must have destroyed it though since it wasn't made for combat, only day to day life as a human."

Issac's clothes were singed with minor burns on his skin as well as revealing his hollow hole where his belly button would be, but there was no other damage done to him. He looked towards the mansion and narrowed his eyes; he could feel people approaching and he needed to do something about it. Moving faster than Orihime could see, he made a number of hand signs and created a barrier that had one purpose; to keep spirit creatures out.

"That should thin the ranks a good bit" with a smirk.

"Damn it" Sora swore.

This was what he had to ensure he could handle anyone that came at him; there were several barriers were different than the barriers a shinigami could create with kido. He must have found one of the old texts while he was doing a project for the Twelfth Division. Without Soifon, Matsumoto, Grimmjow, and Ichigo this fight wasn't going to have a happy ending.

-Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Soifon-

The three were rushing at top speed to the explosion that had happened only a few seconds ago. It had to be the Arrancar that Sora and Talia had chased back through time finally making a move. That raised one question though; was Tsukune back already? Soifon had received word from Yamamoto that he was being escorted back to Yokai Academy by Unohana-taichou, but that wasn't even half an hour ago. It should take forty-five minutes to safely pass through the dangai, even with the kototsu shut down for them. The trio slammed into an invisible wall and a collective groan could be heard from them as they pushed themselves off it.

"What the fuck?" Grimmjow asked as he tapped what they had just hit.

"A barrier;" Soifon said as she picked up some dirt "looks like it's meant to keep people out, but it doesn't seem like a normal barrier though" as she threw the dirt at the barrier and it passed right through "it's meant to keep spirit beings out specifically."

Ichigo swung Zangetsu at the barrier only to have it stopped by what he was swinging at.

"We have to get in;" Ichigo said as he swung again "Orihime's in there!"

"Just attacking it won't do anything;" Soifon said as she grabbed his arm "use your head!"

-Moka, Kokoa, Yukari, Mizore, Kurumu, and Fanfan-

The group of students ran as fast as they could towards where the explosion happened. They weren't sure if it was the Arrancar or just another regular hollow; regardless, they had to check it out.

"Worst case scenario" Fanfan said "say this is the Arrancar you mentioned. Are we supposed to be able to defeat it?"

"We have a plan to bring him down;" Yukari said "the shinigami are going to make a sneak attack as we distract him."

"Like I said before;" Kokoa retorted "great idea, what could possibly go wrong with it? I mean other than us getting creamed before they show up?"

"The best case scenario would be that they've already taken care of him by time we arrive;" Mizore said "they can move much faster than us so it would be most likely to happen."

The Yokai continued running and found Talia and Hanataro, prior angrily hitting her fist against something in the air. Hanataro was gently tapping another spot showing that the thing keeping them out had a massive surface area. The group skid to a halt to keep from running into what was keeping the two out.

"A barrier?" Mizore asked.

"Looks like it;" Hanataro said with a sigh "doesn't look like anyone will be able to get through."

Fanfan walked up next to the shinigami and tried to tap where the medic had been doing so, only to hit nothing.

"It's meant to just keep them out," Fanfan said "we can still go and try to handle the source of the barrier."

"It's the Arrancar" Talia said angrily "and you won't be able to do anything."

"Watch us" Kokoa said as she ran through.

Moka quickly took off after her younger sister and everyone that wasn't a spirit creature followed suite. As they ran they each thought of ways that they could get the barrier to fall. Fanfan knew that when someone made a barrier it took a certain level of focus to maintain it pass a certain point; break the concentration and the barrier will fall. The only problem was breaking the person's concentration. He could always try summoning a powerful creature to help, but the strongest thing he could summon was a small dragon and he wasn't sure if that would be enough.

The closer they got the greater the pressure in the air seemed to be; to Moka and Kokoa it wasn't even noticeable, but for Yukari it was gradually getting harder to breath while they ran. By the time they found Orihime and Sora, Yukari was having trouble staying on her feet. Before they could check to see if the two were ok, Kokoa and Moka saw the form that the Arrancar had taken and their eyes shook.

"I must say;" Issac said "I'm not surprised that Sendo-san can barely stand. What I am surprised at is Kokoa racing towards a hollow so soon after being poisoned by hollow blood."

"So it was you" Moka shouted in anger.

"What are you do about it?" with a smile as he flared his reiatsu at them.

Yukari fell to the ground from the increased pressure on her small body; it was just too much for her to handle. Moka kneeled next to her to make sure the tiny witch was alright, after getting a head nod she looked at the Arrancar with fire in her eyes.

"We need to think this through;" Mizore said "you can't just try charging at her…"

"I was born male;" Issac corrected her "the confusion is understandable."

"Him" correcting her mistake "like you did with the blonde Arrancar woman."

Moka clinched her jaw tight; she knew that Mizore was right. If she just charged in because of the rage she was feeling, she'd end up in pretty bad condition. The only way to approach this was to use team work and hit the Arrancar as hard as they could at the same time. Last year she had fought so many fights on her own that she had little teamwork skills, but ever since the female Arrancar kidnapped Mizore and Kurumu she had been working on getting better at it.

"How do you have my mother's form?" Kokoa asked angrily.

"You'll find out eventually" with a dark smirk as he stopped flaring his reiatsu at them.

Kokoa grit her teeth; she didn't like the way the Arrancar smirked as he said that. It suggested something bad. Just who was this guy and how did he manage to get close enough to her mother to be able to copy her form? How did he copy someone's form to begin with? These two questions were the biggest ones she could think of when it came to the Arrancar that was standing in front of them. She knew that her mother was in no way a push over; she had lasted longer when fighting with her father than all but one vampire, Moka's mother. If this guy was strong enough to take on her mother, then what chance did they have against him?

Everyone moved into a fighting stance as they waited for someone to make the first attack. The Yokai Academy students knew that if the Arrancar made the first attack, it could very well spell defeat, or even death, for them. If they made the first one though, it could open them up for a counter attack that might end the same way. Each one of them knew that the only way for a win was to get the barrier to be dropped so the shinigami, and Grimmjow could join in on the fight.

"He has the form of a vampire;" Mizore whispered "then maybe…"

"That might work" Moka said.

The ground glowed with intricate runes as Fanfan summoned the biggest dragon he could. As he did this, Kurumu created the strongest illusion she could to try to make him believe he was bound by chains to the ground. The dragon took a deep breath and blew the hottest fire it could with the hydrogen pouches in its chest; the fire forced Mizore to take a few steps back from the blue flames that crackled and raised the temperature around them by twenty degrees. The yuki-ona created fourteen ice clones and had them jump towards the flame covered Arrancar. Once they were in position, Yukari fired a barrage of tarot cards at them and caused them to shatter over the fire and melt instantly as the heat met the shards. The students watched as the ice shards rained down on where the Arrancar stood and waited to see if it did anything.

Steam began to obscure their line of sight as the water gradually put the flames out. The sound of the ground cracking from the rapid temperature change was the only thing they could hear other than the steam hissing from the same ground. As the steam thinned out, everyone's eyes shook violently at what they saw; the Arrancar standing in the same place with no damage at all.

"Even if I couldn't use the Hougetsu Jigen-Tou" Issac said coolly "I have no physical body. I'm a soul, water has no affect on a vampire that doesn't have a physical body. The only thing that attack would've done to me is cause third degree burns that would've healed in a couple minutes. It was a very good try though" with a clap.

"Then try this on!" Issac heard next to him.

His head snapped to the left and he saw Ginnei in his true form in the middle of taking a swing with his clawed hand. Issac quickly reactivated the Hougetsu Jigen-Tou and the clawed hand passed harmlessly through him. The Arrancar went to use the same technique to slice the werewolf's arm off, but was blasted with a compressed ball of air that sent him backwards a solid thirty feet. Everyone looked and saw Haiji standing as though he had just thrown a punch; Gin took advantage of the opening and got next to his friends.

"So this is the guy Sora and Talia are here for?" Gin asked.

"Yea" Moka said.

"He put up a barrier to keep the others away;" Fanfan explained "if we can break his concentration on it, the barrier will fall and they'll be able to rush in to help."

"Sounds easy enough" Kurumu said.


	53. Chapter 53

Issac burst into a fit of laughter at Kurumu's claim causing everyone to just get annoyed with him.

"I thought this was a fight for your lives," as he wiped a tear from his eye "not standup comedy. None of you will be able to so much as touch me; I've fought in war, trained with the most brutal of combatants, and I have many more forms that are far stronger than this vampire bitch. And you teenagers think you will be able to _make_ me drop the barrier. That thought is too rich. Only three of you…" he looked to the corner of his eye "four of you have a weapon that can actually harm me. The rest of you are just cannon fodder that will only serve as an attempted distraction for the one that might be able to hit me."

"You talk too much" Gin shouted as he moved to attack the Arrancar.

As he werewolf got close enough to make his attack, Issac vanished with a burst of sonido. His sudden disappearance caused Gin's eyes to widened mere moments before he felt a pain shoot through his side. The pain reverberated throughout his body as his throat was grabbed by his opponent and slammed him into the ground. He could see a smirk on the Arrancar's face just before he dropped his knee into his gut. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he heard his ribs pop from the impact.

"But I can back my talk;" Issac said with a chuckle "unlike you and your friends. This is a world you have no clue about and are ill prepared to even consider facing. You're just the runt of the litter anyways; what do you think you can do against someone who can run circles around you?"

"WHITE AND BLACK DUET: NUMBER NINE!" he heard Mizore and Kurumu shout.

The Arrancar activated the Hougetsu Jigen-Tou and let the attack pass harmlessly through him. As the attack passed through him, he spun around and landed his heel against Kurumu's jaw with a sickening crack, sending both the succubus and her yuki-ona friend flying through the air. He watched as Moka and Fanfan moved to catch the duet; the latter failing miserably and ending up acting more as an airbag for Mizore than a catcher.

"With that broken jaw it should be hard for you to announce what you're about to do;" the Arrancar said with a bored look on his face.

Issac raised his hand and pointed a finger at the students that were still grouped together; in the blink of an eye, he fired a stream of fire at them. Before the fire hit, Mizore created an ice wall between her friends and the incoming stream. The barrier instantly evaporated into steam and the students used that to cover their movements; Moka getting Kurumu to Orihime, and the rest creating a circle around the Arrancar. Just as everyone got into position, a flock of crows attacked the Arrancar and obscured his vision. A smirk grew on his face as he sensed Fanfan moving to attack him; he leaned back and let the coin sword pass harmlessly in front of him.

Fanfan's eyes went wide as he saw that he had missed his mark and wasn't going to have enough time to recover or block an attack from the stronger enemy. He was powerless to try to protect himself should the Arrancar decide to take the offensive against him. His eyes screwed shut as he waited for the blows to come, but they didn't; he heard a static like boom and something penetrate the ground just in front of him. When he opened his eyes, he saw several ice kunai stuck in the ground only a foot from him; Mizore had probably just saved his life for the moment.

Issac sonido next to Yukari, grabbed her wand from her hand, and drove his knee into her side breaking several ribs with the devastating blow and collapsing a lung as well. To follow up, he round house kicked her in the face and sent her flying over to Orihime. The moment she landed, he broke her wand into several pieces as Orihime extended her healing dome to save the young witch from the injuries that could claim her life. That put two out of commission for the remainder of the fight; only Moka, Ruby, Mizore, Fanfan, Kokoa, Gin, and Haiji remained standing. The Arrancar caught a clawed hand that was coming at his side.

"I was just thinking about you runt" Issac said with a blood chilling smirk.

He jerked the werewolf's arm giving him a full view of it, and dropped his elbow through the upper portion; effectively breaking the bone in two. Gin screamed in pain as the Arrancar let go of him. In the past, the worst he had ever had was only a couple fractures; never a complete break like this, never a complete break by any means. He collapsed to the ground holding his broken arm and growled at the Arrancar that was responsible for it. Whoever he was, he was too strong for any of them; even while fighting together they weren't a match for him. And there was a good chance this guy was just toying with them.

The Arrancar twisted his body and dodged the rapier that was intended to pierce his chest; he knew Kokoa had aimed to kill, out of all of them she was the most willing to do it. He grabbed the small vampire's wrist and broke it with a swift twist. Before she could scream in pain, he drove his knee into her chest and knocked the wind out of her. Without letting her fall to the ground, he grabbed her by the throat and picked her up to eye level. He knew exactly how to put her out of commission for the remainder of the fight. He bit into his free wrist deep enough to draw blood from it and began to smear the blackish crimson fluid all over her face; once her face was almost completely covered, he threw her to the side.

"Four down" with a chuckle.

Kokoa's sense of smell began to drive her crazy; the Arrancar had been right, it was way too soon for her to be fighting against a Hollow. Her body began to shake as she fought the urge to lick the blood from her face. She was powerless to do anything further now. The only thing she could hope to do was resist her body's demand for the blood that was smeared on her face and hope that her will didn't crumble.

Ruby sent a massive flock of crows at the Arrancar as Mizore unleashed a barrage of ice kunai. The Arrancar just charged a small cero and blasted all of the incoming projectiles, bird and ice alike, from existence as if it were child's play for him. The older witch made a rapid move to the left to dodge an attack that was being aimed at her; she might have been fast for a witch, but she had extreme limitations because of her living body. While she remained in the air, she could provide a lot of coverage for her friends and save them from a few things that could end up being killing blows. That was only effective as long as she could stay in the air though; the moment she were to be knocked from it, it was over. At this point that was the name of the game; survive.

Her eyes widened as she saw the Arrancar appear behind the black belt and deliver a powerful kidney shot that put him on the ground in no time flat. Just as she went to send a spell to blast the Arrancar away from the martial artist, that same Arrancar broke both of his legs with a single stomp and kicked the teen over to Gin. This was beyond their abilities the moment they charged into the barrier, and it was becoming painfully obvious to each and every one of them now. They had no hope of forcing the Arrancar to drop the barrier on their own; they couldn't even lay a single hit on him.

Even as she sent another wave of crows to attack him and Moka threw kick after kick with her new Bake-bake Bat attached to her shin, it was obvious that nothing was going to land on the more powerful opponent. He was just toying with them; he could've easily defeated, or killed, them the moment they made themselves known to him. Yet he hadn't moved to kill anyone. It wasn't adding up. If he came back in time to kill Tsukune, then why did he not make a killing blow against all of Tsukune's friends to ensure that Tsukune would come after him? The older witch charged a ball of Pure Energy of Nature as she flew down to the Arrancar's blind side with hopes of blasting him in the face and ending the onslaught. Just as she got in range and fired the ball of purifying energy, the Arrancar sonido out of the way and Moka was hit by the friendly fire and was blown backward to Orihime.

"That was a very nice try" she heard behind her.

Just before she could look at the Arrancar, she was punched in the face and sent crashing through a tree. As she cleared the tree, she was greeted by a knee to the gut; blood sprayed from her mouth as the pain ricochet throughout her entire being. This was a level of pain she wasn't used to, not even close. What she was feeling now made everything in the past seem like playful hits from a friend. She held her stomach as she collapsed to her knees and coughed more blood onto the ground just in front of her. There was nothing she could do but watch as the Arrancar crushed her wand beneath his foot with a smirk on his face. Now it was up to only Mizore and Fanfan to try to get the Arrancar to drop the barrier; it was hopeless and they had better hope of running outside the barrier to lure the Arrancar to where the others could handle him. Just as the Arrancar sprinted towards Fanfan, a large circle with runes around it began to glow on the ground in front of him.

"Was wondering when you'd show your face Head Master;" the Arrancar said as he pulled five kunai from a pouch hidden by his shirt "too bad it's all for nothing!"

Issac threw the kunai at the edge of the circle; a mere millisecond before they hit, someone managed to rush from the teleportation seal. That person was Fuhai, and he had a look on his face that suggested he was out for blood. Issac quickly activated his Hougetsu Jigen-Tou and blocked the slash that the Dark Lord made in an attempt to decapitate the Arrancar. The Arrancar sonido away from the older man and the two just starred at one another.

"Not many know how to interrupt a teleportation done by a seal;" Fuhai said as he looked at the circle he managed to escape from "yet you have five kunai on you with the proper seals to do so."

"I'm a nerd at heart;" with a smile "this doesn't concern you Fuhai-dono, so I'll ask you to stay out of this."

"Doesn't…" with anger in his voice and on his face "concern me?! You attack the school of my closest friend, are the reason the daughter of another friend of mine is injured, and are in the process of attacking my great grandson. I BELIEVE THIS IS VERY MUCH MY CONCERN!"

Fuhai's small body began to glow with a yellow aura and the ground beneath his feet began to crack. As the glowing grew more and more intense, the master of dark arts' body began to grow from its small form to a much taller form. His white hair turned black and went from going to his waist to only to between the shoulder blades, his scrawny body became muscular, and his robe changed from the plain white robe to a black one with a white flame design along the waist.

"So this is your true form?" Issac asked.

Fuhai didn't answer as he vanished with a burst of shunpo and reappeared behind the Arrancar. With a downward swing of his arm, he attempted to cleave the Arrancar from the future in two pieces with his superior Jigen-Tou technique. Just as he was about to make contact with his enemy, the Arrancar sonido out of the way of the attack and delivered a devastating kick to the old Yasha. The creator of the Jigen-Tou didn't get sent soaring away from the Arrancar like the latter had hoped; instead Fuhai took the hit in stride, retaliated with a punch to the stomach and sent the Arrancar backwards into a tree. He didn't give the Arrancar a chance to get his wind back and moved to slice through the advanced hollow again. As he did the Arrancar brought up both hands and blocked the attack; the tree behind him began to crack under the pressure of Fuhai pushing against his opponent. The Arrancar used his Hougetsu Jigen-Tou and escaped the locked position by phasing through the tree.

While Fuhai sliced through the tree, Issac obliterated it with an overpowered punch causing splinters to fly towards the Dark Lord. Using the debris to cover his movements, he sonido away from Fuhai and put enough distance between them to think of a new strategy for fighting the man. This was the only option for him at the moment; if he would've continued fighting how he was, it would end badly for both him and the Dark Lord. He never liked the idea of mutually assured destruction.

Fuhai looked at the Arrancar that had the form of Gyokuro with narrowed eyes. With how the Arrancar fought it suggested that he's had Gyokuro's form for quite some time and trained with it. It made him wonder how far in the future he was from and what else he was capable of with just Gyokuro's form; which also made him wonder what other forms he had in his arsenal. If he didn't end this quickly and return to his old man form it could cause him to use too much energy and end up burning through what little life energy he had left. While he didn't mind the thought of going to the Soul Society and finally not be forced to watch his friends grow old and die around him, he wasn't ready to do so just yet.

The two narrowed their eyes at one another a mere second before they vanished with shunpo and sonido. The next thing everyone else saw was a pressure wave exploding in midair as the two attempted to slice through one another. Fuhai pushed the copy of Gyokuro's hand away from him and kicked its owner in the side; siding the Arrancar crashing through several tree branches before he managed to keep himself from slamming into the ground. The Dark Lord didn't ease up in the slightest. He continued attacking with the fury that he was known to show to anyone that tried to hurt his family, throwing punches and kicks at speeds that seemed blinding to everyone observing the fight; and nearly just as fast for the Arrancar that was meant to be on the receiving end of the attacks.

Fuhai kept the pressure against the Arrancar up and the two destroyed several of the near death trees that were in the area as a result of the later either dodging or barely blocking attacks. Worry could be seen on his face as a cut was made on his arm and he used sonido to make a hasty retreat from the Dark Lord; said Yokai wasn't going to have any of that though. He cut off the Arrancar's retreat with a burst of shunpo combined with a roundhouse kick to his gut and sent him crashing into the hard dirt beneath them creating a small crater. The older combatant readied his Hougetsu Jigen-Tou and launched it at the Arrancar before he could get up with hopes of ending the fight. When the dimension cutter got half way to its target, the person it was supposed to kill launched one of his own; the two collided and sent a massive gust of air throughout the immediate area.

"You shouldn't let these eyes see any of your special attacks;" Issac warned as he showed the eyes in the palms of Gyokuro's hands "they can copy _any_ attack they see."

Issac looked at the cut on his arm and then back up to the Dark Lord; at the rate he was going, he wasn't going to last till Tsukune arrived. That would defeat the purpose of this whole trip. He knew he had already changed several things just before this day and he had to make sure one more thing would be changed too. But for that to happen, he needed to fight Tsukune. There was only way he could hope to ensure he'd last till then; he was going to have to kill Fuhai's physical body.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this;" the Arrancar said as electricity began to dance around his hands "time can't be completely rewritten, but some of the details can be. Your life in the World of the Living is only a detail in the grand scheme of things; even more so since you should've naturally died quite some time ago."

Issac vanished with a burst of sonido again and appeared behind the Dark Lord ready to slice him clean in half at the waist. He watched as the man did a backflip over him and landed ready to deliver a kick to his head. The anger that could be seen in his eyes reminded him of an old friend and made him grin as he blocked the kick with his free arm. The impact of the kick made him skid a good fifty feet to the side. The Arrancar had never fought against Fuhai in his past; every attack the centuries old man made was just enough to catch him off guard. At the moment, he was glad that they never fought each other. The Dark Lord had experience that surpassed even Yoruichi and most likely give the Goddess of the Flash a run for her money in a fight. He got little time to recover as the master of dark arts charged him yet again.

The two dodged and made attacks on one another at speeds that not even Gin could keep up with. Everyone just watched in awe as Fuhai deflected attacks that were meant to cut through him, electrocute him, or burn him. The only damage seemed to be to the surrounding area and to the Dark Lord's clothing; neither one was showing any signs of having been physically hit. As the two continued to fight, Mizore looked at the circle that was being held in place by the five knives the Arrancar had thrown. She knew that the Head Master used seals to teleport from area to area. She made a dash towards the seal in order to remove the knives that were keeping the Head Master from making his appearance. As she got within three feet of the knives, the Arrancar appeared right in front of her and back handed her away from the seals; the hit was hard enough to break her cheek bone.

"I believe one Dark Lord is quite enough; don't you?" Issac asked rhetorically.

As Mizore hit the ground, Fuhai attempted to get pass the Arrancar only to be cut off by that very person. Their dimension bending hands locked against one another as they pushed against each other with hopes of creating an opening. The Dark Lord twisted his body in order to deliver a powerful kick to his opponent's head; just as he twisted though, the Arrancar ducked down to avoid the kick and threw an electrified punch straight into his gut. The electricity continued to dance over his body as he hit the ground and got back up. What little pain he felt was nothing to a masochist like him. As he stood, he felt a pain in his chest as his heart clinched tightly; he was almost out of time and energy.

"Your years without training are showing Fuhai-dono;" the Arrancar said "or could it just be your age catching up to you? I think I understand why the Shinigami King hadn't bothered to ensure your passing. Your life energy is almost burned out anyway; no need to waste someone's time. I think it would be safe to say" as he showed his electricity covered hand "one more hit with electricity and your body won't be able to sustain itself any longer with what little life energy you have left."

The look on Fuhai's face told everyone he had enough of hearing what the Arrancar had to say. Their battle had been give and take with neither one doing anything noticeable until the most recent blow dealt by the Arrancar.

"You think your words are supposed to intimidate me brat?" Fuhai retorted "I can take far more than _you_ can hope to dish out."

"Care to test that claim?" Issac said calmly.

Fuhai charged the Arrancar ready to use his Hougetsu Jigen-Tou to continue the fight; as he was about to make his attack his heart clinched yet again, forcing him stumble slightly. He heard a static like boom right in front of him a mere second before he felt two fists slam into his chest and electricity shot throughout his body. As his body hit the ground, he knew what the attack that had just been used mirrored; Yamamoto's Sokotsu. While the Arrancar lacked the raw power that was meant to be behind the attack, it was a powerful hit none-the-less. The Dark Lord struggled to get up off the ground as he gasped for air; that was the last of his life energy. It was only a matter of time before his soul separated from his physical body.

"Now that you're no longer a threat, I need to change my form again;" Issac said as he closed his eyes and shifted his reiatsu through his body.

Everyone watched as the Arrancar's skin changed from the tan olive tone to a lighter tone, his bones began to shift beneath his flesh and he lost a few inches from his height. His fingers were no longer the slender ones of Gyokuro, but instead were a little thicker. The long blond hair shortened and turned brown as his cheek bones became more noticeable. He let out a small cry of pain as he fell to the ground while the change completed and he began to pat. As he pat, the barrier he had erected fell and those who were spirits were there in a second. Talia set Hanataro down and the medic immediately rushed over to Kokoa; who was struggling to keep control of herself by fighting the urge to wipe the blood off her face and licking it from her fingers.

"It's going to be ok, Shuzen-san;" he said trying to get her to stop shaking "I'm going to wipe your face off."

The medic began to do so with his sleeve; being extra careful to not get any close to her mouth or in her eyes. Once the blood was off her face, she grabbed his shoulders and had a strange look in her eyes. The shinigami had a good idea about what was most likely going to happen; her body was demanding blood, but she had been fighting against it. Now that she didn't have any Hollow blood on her, she felt she could safely drink blood without going crazy.

"I'm sorry;" she said as she bit into his neck and began to drink his blood.

Hanataro let out a whence of pain as he felt her fangs pierce into his neck; unlike the previous times she had drank from him, she didn't even try to bite him gently. He felt her fangs digging into the muscles of his neck as she bit down harder. The sound of her gulping down the blood became audible to him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. This wasn't her fault that she was feeling like this; so how could he be upset by it?

As Kokoa continued to drink from Hanataro, everyone just looked at the Arrancar kneeling on the ground and holding himself as if he were in pain. He managed to change his form again and there was no telling what he was going to be capable of now.

"Son of a bitch;" the Arrancar said in a familiar voice "it always hurts more going from female to male than the other way around. Unfortunately it was required;" as he stood up "compatibility reasons."

Everyone's eyes just shook as they saw who the Arrancar had taken the form of; it was Tsukune's. Every detail was correct, right down to the scars on his chest; the only exception was the Hollow hole where his belly button should've been.

"Tsukune in a miniskirt…" Grimmjow said with a sweat drop "that's something I never thought I'd see. I ain't wanting to see it ever again either."

"You… you son of a bitch!" Talia said angrily as she sped towards the Arrancar from the future with a burst of shunpo.

Angry tears could be seen coming from her eyes as she swung her small zanpakuto at the Arrancar; who just lazily dodged the attacks. His eyes showed he didn't care if she actually hit him or not, but was avoiding getting hit anyway. He grabbed Talia's wrist and flipped her onto the ground before landing a solid kick to her side; sending her sliding to Soifon, who stopped her.

"You can't just charge in like that;" Soifon scolded her "that's how you get yourself killed."

"You should listen to her for once;" Issac said "all you did was waste your energy. Time to remove a power player" as he held his arm out in front of him and a black reiatsu came from his chest and wrapped around it "Ban…Kai!"

Dirt was kicked up and blown in every possible direction as the Arrancar had a sudden increase of power. All his opponents covered their eyes to keep the loose dirt from getting into them. When the dirt settled, everyone was having issues believing what they were seeing; the Arrancar was wielding what looked like Ichigo's bankai. The only differences were that the tips of the teeth along the back were different colors; one was black, white, and blue.

"Tensa Zangetsu" Issac said confirming everyone's thoughts.

"You can't fight anymore Ichigo-san;" Yukari shouted to him "if your blade and his blade touch, it will cause a paradoxical event that might cause either you or the Arrancar to implode."

"What?!" Ichigo said in disbelief.

He grit his teeth in annoyance at how easily he had been removed from the fight; he didn't even get a chance to actually fight. Now he was stuck on the sidelines unable to do anything to help. That wasn't completely true; there was one thing he could do, but it could cause the campus to end up in pretty bad shape. He could let his hollow out and let him just use his fists to beat the Arrancar into the ground. While it would be an easy answer to the problem at hand, he couldn't do it; he knew that if he let his dark self out, it'd be hard to get him under control again.

-Tsukune, Unohana, and Akua-

Tsukune was barely fighting the urge to run through the tunnel Unohana-taichou was escorting him through to get back to Yokai Academy. The feeling he had while waiting for Central Forty Six to decide his fate was getting worse. All he knew was that he needed to hurry up and get back. Ever since he defeated Ghoul, his instincts had been easier to hear and it was a mixed blessing. It helped him figure some things out, but when he was trying to be patient and he had this nagging feeling in him that something bad was happening it put him on edge.

"There's no need to rush back to the Academy, Aono-san;" Unohana said calmly as if reading his mind "even if there was something going on, your abilities are severely limited for the next fifteen minutes because of the binding Yamamoto-sou-taichou put on you."

"Then I'll just release bankai and fight like that" he answered.

"Don't just rush into something;" Akua warned "just because you have the healing abilities of a Shinso doesn't mean you are undefeatable. Not many know the secret to fighting, and killing, a Shinso but that doesn't mean they can't out last your stamina."

Tsukune grit his teeth as he continued to follow the taichou through the tunnel; they needed to hurry.

-Yokai Academy-

Ichigo watched as Soifon, Grimmjow, Rangiku, and Talia all attacked the Arrancar from the future. Thanks to the bankai the Arrancar had stolen, he was easily avoiding the attacks being made against him by flicking his body to another spot. Even with the four of them coming at him from four sides, it wasn't enough to force him into a corner and injure him. The only thing he was doing was wearing them out; he wasn't making any attacks of his own, he was only avoiding getting hit and keeping their attention on him.

The mixed breed shinigami balled his fists tightly as he resisted every fiber of him that screamed to get out there and fight against the Arrancar from the future. Out of everything he had ever done, this had to be one of the hardest things. He knew he could turn the fight in favor of the shinigami, but if he would attempt it he could end up destroying a good bit of the school or losing his life in the process.

"Tsukune-kun felt the same way last year;" he heard Kurumu say.

"What?"

"Kurumu-chan" Orihime said "your jaw isn't completely healed yet. Please don't talk."

"Tsukune-kun hated having to watch us fight to keep him safe, but knew that if he got involved he'd only get himself killed. That didn't stop him some of the times though;" Kurumu explained "he stepped in and kept Moka from ripping my wings and tail off, he stood up against a witch that was going to destroy a city, stood against the Safety Committee, and so much more leading up to when he gave his life to keep the barrier over the campus from falling. Every time he was forced to stay out of a fight, he hated how weak he was and the fact that he couldn't even protect himself from the weaker Yokai without needing our help."

Ichigo watched with his fists clinched tightly as Soifon, Rangiku, Grimmjow, and Talia all made attacks against the Arrancar from the future. Said Arrancar easily blocked and dodged every attack that was thrown his way; without ever going on the offensive. Blurs of Soifon's, Rangiku's, and Talia's shunpo were easily noticeable to him; even Grimmjow's sonido was easy for him to follow. He could tell that the others could only see the sparks that were coming from the blades colliding against one another and were several motions behind what was actually happening.

Issac blocked Rangiku's zanpakuto with his copied bankai and sensed someone immediately behind him. He leaned back as far as he could and watched the blade pass just over his face. Once the blade was clear, he twisted his body and landed a kick against Rangiku's face; just before she went flying, he used his other leg to catch the other side of her face and squeezed as he flipped backwards. This sent Rangiku crashing into Soifon and caused them both to land unceremoniously as Grimmjow brought his blade down the moment he sonido in front of the Tsukune look-a-like.

"You're so much weaker than I thought you would've been;" Issac said as he blocked the attack "I would've thought that someone who accepted the rank of fuku-taichou would be much stronger. I don't even have complete compatibility with this bankai and all of you are struggling to hit me. Release your Resurreccion and come at me seriously… wait. You can't can you? Your own instincts seem to think you aren't good enough for them. Interesting."

"You talk too much" the panther said as he charged a cero and fired it at the Arrancar.

Issac sonido out of the way and looked at the fighters with empty eyes. He knew how this was going to end for him, but that didn't matter; the paradox he was creating was going to sort itself out.

"Getsuga Tensho" as he fired the famous attack at his opponents.

Grimmjow fired an underpowered cero at the incoming attack and the blast knocked him and the others backwards. Before the dust cleared, Issac sonido to where Soifon and Rangiku were and made a diagonal slash down Rangiku's chest. Just as the blood sprayed from her new wound, he delivered a powerful kick to the side of her head yet again and knocked her over to Orihime. Right as the fuku-taichou hit the ground, he put his blade through Soifon's kidney and blasted her right shoulder with a powerful bala; causing the arm to become destroyed at the shoulder. He turned his attention to Grimmjow as he launched an even stronger Getsuga Tensho as he panther and made a dead on hit before he even knew it was coming; he watched as the panther fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

"And with that, it leaves just you and me;" as he looked at Talia "are you sure you want to continue this pointless fight?"

Talia lifted her arm up and began to build reiatsu around her.

"That's a really bad idea. You won't be able to control it" he warned.

"I'll show…" was all she managed to say before she screamed in pain from the bones in her arm shattering.

"Told you;" as he sonido in front of her and drove his fist into her gut "you always do things without thinking them through. Chasing me into the past is only one example of your recent blunders;" watching her fall to the ground holding her arm and coughing in pain "if you really wanted to be like your dear daddy you'd slow down and think things through instead of…" he quickly brought his blade up and blocked a red wave that he recognized.

The Ketsujin pushed him back away from Talia a good fifty feet before he flicked it into the air. A smirk grew on his face when he saw the person who launched it.

"It's Tsukune!" Kurumu called out with joy.

"Look who finally showed up Talia;" Issac said "dear old daddy!"

Tsukune walked over to the girl named Talia and kneeled in front of her to look at her; tears were beginning to form in her brown eyes. He could see the resemblance they shared but he could kind of see who her mother might be.

"Is it true?" he asked softly.

"Yes;" as she began crying.

Everyone just looked at the girl with wide eyes; they had all thought she looked a little like Tsukune, but she was actually his kid! Gin had been right when he told everyone his hunch. She had kept her identity secret from them, but the moment she was confronted by Tsukune she confessed it.

"Please, don't worry about us. Just run" as she gripped her broken arm tightly "he came back in time to kill you; please…" she sobbed "just run."

"No;" as he cupped her cheek "the last time I ran from something, Moka-chan was nearly hurt. I won't run again to save myself. Right now, my friends are all I have; I can't go see your grandparents without scarring the life out of them. They're the reason I got stronger when I returned to Yokai Academy. That guy made it personal by attacking my friends; he gave me the right to be the only one who fights him when he hurt you."

"Don't…" she begged "you can't."

"I can, and will. Do your dad a favor;" as he took off his necklace "hold onto this for me."

"Please" trying desperately to keep him from fighting.

"Hey, who am I?" as he cupped her cheek again.

"Daddy" as she rubbed against his hand and took the necklace from him.

"Unohana-taichou, please stay out of this;" as he stood up and took the white prisoner robe off revealing the tattered pants he was found wearing and the restraints the Sou-taichou had put on him "this is personal for me."

The taichou of the Fourth Division could see the fire that seemed to be burning in Tsukune's eyes.

"I understand Aono-san" she said.

"Talia, can you get over to Orihime-chan?"

Talia nodded as she was helped up by her father and carefully walked over to the orange haired healer. She looked back in time to see red reiatsu engulf her father and his hair become just as long as Moka's. She stopped in her tracks and watched as the reiatsu that was surrounding Tsukune became armor; Grimmjow, from her time, had told her that her father's bankai was a suit of armor with an insane healing ability.

"And so it begins" Issac said with a smirk as he looked at his old friend.


End file.
